Getting started — Local Builder

The Local Builder connects your own AI agent — Claude Code, Codex, or Gemini CLI — to the Anyknown platform. You use your own AI subscription; @anyknown/cli handles authentication, App management, and pushing changes.

Prerequisites

• An Anyknown account.
• Node.js 18 or later.
• Your AI agent of choice (Claude Code recommended).

Install the CLI

npm install -g @anyknown/cli

Or use it without installing:

npx @anyknown/cli <command>

Authenticate

anyknown login

This opens a browser for device-pair authentication and stores your token at ~/.anyknown/credentials.json.

Check who you are authenticated as:

anyknown whoami

Sign out:

anyknown logout

Connect the MCP server (Claude Code)

Add the Anyknown MCP server to Claude Code so your agent can read and write App files directly:

claude mcp add anyknown 'npx -y @anyknown/mcp'

The MCP server provides five tools your agent can call:

Tool	What it does
list_apps	List Apps in your Anyknown org
read_app_tree	List every source file in an App
read_file	Read a source file from the App
write_file	Write a source file to the local working tree
request_build	Push local changes and trigger a build

Work with Apps

List your Apps

anyknown apps list

Clone an App to work on locally

anyknown apps clone my-app

Files land in ~/anyknown-apps/my-app/ by default (override with ANYKNOWN_APPS_DIR).

Initialize a new local App workspace

anyknown apps init

Sets up the framework boundary files (manifest, server entry, SDK stub) for a new App. Does not generate any page or component content — the AI generates that.

Run the local dev server

anyknown apps dev

Starts a local dev server for the App using Cloudflare Workers tooling. Live-reloads on file changes.

Push changes to the platform

anyknown apps push

Uploads the local working tree to the Anyknown platform.

Build the App

anyknown apps build

Triggers a build on the platform. Surfaces build errors and exits non-zero on failure.

Deploy (push + build + preview)

anyknown apps deploy --preview

Pushes the local tree, builds it, and deploys to the App’s isolated preview slot. Add --verify to run smoke verification after deploy.

To deploy directly to production (skipping the preview slot):

anyknown apps deploy

Verify a deployed preview

anyknown apps verify

Runs smoke verification against the deployed preview and prints a structured verdict: pass, broken, or inconclusive. Exits non-zero only on broken.

Pull context for your agent

anyknown context plan <appSlug>
anyknown context db-schema <appSlug>
anyknown context feedback <appSlug>
anyknown context build-history <appSlug>

Pulls cloud-side context (latest plan, current DB schema, redacted Visitor feedback, build history) into your local agent’s context window. Use --json for structured output.

Targeting staging

anyknown --env=staging apps list

Pass --env=staging to any command to target the staging environment.

Workflow skills

Customer-facing workflow skills (automated iterate/build/read flows for your agent) are forthcoming.

Next steps

• Framework Contract — understand the App boundary your code must satisfy
• Capabilities — per-capability guides for Identity, Storage, Payments, and more
• Concepts & Glossary — platform vocabulary reference