Getting Started

This path is for users who want to try Rainrail from the public CLI without working on the Rainrail source repository.

1. Install the CLI

Rainrail’s installer requires Node.js 22.13 or newer.

curl -fsSL https://rainrail.dev/install.sh | bash -s -- --add-to-shell --yes
exec $SHELL
rainrail help

The installer adds the rainrail command to your shell. rainrail help is the source of truth for the commands available in your installed version.

2. Initialize a local workspace

Run rainrail init inside the directory you want Rainrail to treat as a local workspace.

cd path/to/rainrail-workspace
rainrail init

If the directory already contains files, rainrail init asks for confirmation before writing the project-local files. Re-running it in an initialized workspace is safe and reports that the workspace already exists.

rainrail init writes the local workspace configuration that Rainrail commands use for project-local state.

The workspace should now contain this project-local layout:

rainrail.config.json
rainrail.lock
.rainrail/
  plugins/
    .gitkeep

The generated config uses the current directory name as the project name.

3. Add optional runtime plugins

If you want Rainrail to start Codex CLI through Codex App Server, run:

rainrail setup codex-app-server --yes
rainrail plugin codex-app-server doctor
rainrail plugin codex-app-server session test

This optional plugin writes a runtimeProviders.codexAppServer entry using the codex-app-server runtime id. It is only for Codex CLI App Server users; skip it when your project uses OpenClaw or another runtime provider.

4. Start the local harness when ready

rainrail start

rainrail start runs the local harness server for the dashboard API, event stream, and configured local intake endpoints. It does not deploy or manage the Cloudflare Worker EEP Bridge.

Next steps

• Read Event model to understand Rainrail events.
• Read Operations before connecting production intake.
• Use Development if you want to contribute changes to Rainrail itself.