Quickstart

Get RAPID running in your project with just two commands.

The Magic

rapid init    # Answer a few questions
rapid dev     # Start coding with AI

That’s it. No manual configuration, no API key setup, no Docker commands.

Initialize a Project

Navigate to your project (or create a new one):
Terminal window
```
mkdir my-project && cd my-project
```
Initialize RAPID (interactive):
Terminal window
```
rapid init
```
You’ll be asked:
- Project name: Auto-detected from directory
- MCP servers: Select which tools your AI needs (context7 for docs, tavily for search)
- Secrets provider: 1Password, HashiCorp Vault, or environment variables
- Create devcontainer?: For reproducible environments
For non-interactive setup, use rapid init -y to accept all defaults.
Start coding with AI:
Terminal window
```
rapid dev
```
RAPID automatically:
- Detects your existing Claude/OpenAI authentication
- Starts any needed services (like the event bus)
- Launches your AI coding assistant

What Happens Behind the Scenes

When you run rapid init:

Creates rapid.json with smart defaults
Generates .mcp.json for MCP server configuration
Creates CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md instruction files
Optionally creates .devcontainer/ for container environments

When you run rapid dev:

Auto-starts the event bus (for multi-agent features)
Passes through your existing Claude authentication (no re-login!)
Injects configured MCP servers
Launches your AI assistant with full project context

Auth Passthrough

If you’re already logged into Claude Code, RAPID automatically uses your existing authentication:

# Already logged in?
claude --version  # If this works, you're good!

# RAPID will use your existing auth
rapid dev  # No API key prompts!

Multi-Agent Communication

RAPID includes a built-in event bus for agents to communicate:

# Terminal 1: Start Claude
rapid dev

# Terminal 2: Start a different agent
rapid dev --agent opencode

# Agents can now send messages to each other!

Check event bus status:

rapid bus status
rapid bus history

Common Workflows

Switch AI Agents

# Use a different agent for this session
rapid dev --agent aider

# Or change the default
rapid agent default opencode

Run Multiple Agents

# Launch all configured agents in split panes
rapid dev --multi

Check Status

rapid status        # Overall project status
rapid bus status    # Event bus status
rapid bus agents    # Connected agents

Stop Services

rapid stop          # Stop all RAPID services
rapid stop --remove # Also remove containers

Project Structure

After initialization:

my-project/
├── rapid.json              # RAPID configuration
├── .mcp.json               # MCP server configuration
├── CLAUDE.md               # Claude-specific instructions
├── AGENTS.md               # Generic AI instructions
└── .devcontainer/          # (optional) Container config
    └── devcontainer.json

Generated Configuration

Here’s what rapid.json looks like with defaults:

{
  "$schema": "https://getrapid.dev/schema/v1/rapid.json",
  "version": "1.0",
  "name": "my-project",
  "agents": {
    "default": "claude",
    "available": {
      "claude": {
        "cli": "claude",
        "instructionFile": "CLAUDE.md",
        "yolo": true
      }
    }
  },
  "eventBus": {
    "enabled": true
  },
  "mcp": {
    "configFile": ".mcp.json",
    "servers": {
      "rapid": {
        "enabled": true,
        "type": "stdio",
        "command": "rapid",
        "args": ["mcp", "serve"]
      }
    }
  }
}