Quickstart

Get started with CortexPrism in under 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

  • Deno v2.0 or later
  • An API key from one of the supported LLM providers
  • Docker (optional, for sandbox isolation — subprocess fallback available)

Installation

Option 1: One-line installer (recommended)

macOS / Linux:

curl -fsSL https://cortexprism.io/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://cortexprism.io/install.ps1 | iex

The installer checks for / installs Deno, clones Cortex to ~/.cortex, creates the cortex CLI alias, and runs database migrations.

Option 2: Manual clone

git clone https://github.com/CortexPrism/cortex.git ~/.cortex
cd ~/.cortex
deno run --allow-all src/db/migrate.ts
deno run --allow-all src/main.ts setup

Add cortex to your PATH by appending to your shell profile:

echo 'alias cortex="deno run --allow-all ~/.cortex/src/main.ts"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Option 3: Pre-compiled binary

Download the latest binary from the Releases page. All binaries include SHA-256 checksums and optional GPG signatures.

Configure a Provider

Run the setup wizard:

cortex setup

This will guide you through configuring your first LLM provider. You'll be prompted to:

  1. Select a mode (CLI or Web)
  2. Choose from 24 LLM providers (or skip)
  3. Complete AI personalization questions (optional)
  4. Select a personality template (8 templates)
  5. Configure channels (multi-select from 10 channel adapters with credential prompts)
  6. Configure advanced features (embeddings, vector store, Chrome Bridge, voice — optional)
  7. Set telemetry preference

You can also manually edit ~/.cortex/config.json.

Start Chatting

cortex chat

This starts an interactive streaming chat session with the default provider. The agent automatically starts background daemons for tool validation and execution.

Try these commands:

  • "What can you do?" — See available capabilities
  • "Search the web for latest AI news" — Web search via DuckDuckGo
  • "Run a Python script that calculates fibonacci" — Sandboxed code execution
  • "Remember that my project is called Project X" — Stores to semantic memory

Next Steps