Installation

This quickstart produces one working local gateway. It takes about five minutes on macOS or Linux and does not require sudo.

Prerequisites

• curl or wget, tar, and a SHA-256 utility (sha256sum or shasum);
• a shell where ~/.local/bin can be added to PATH if the installer uses its private runtime.

API-key routes need the matching provider credential in the environment. RouteKit never prompts for or stores API keys.

The installer prefers an existing Node.js 22+ installation with a writable npm prefix. Otherwise it downloads a digest-verified private Node.js runtime under ~/.local/share/routekit/node and installs RouteKit under ~/.local.

Install the CLI

curl -fsSL https://github.com/velum-labs/routekit/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh
routekit version

To install with an existing Node.js 22+ runtime instead:

npm install -g @velum-labs/routekit

The public installer records its npm prefix and runtime provenance so a later routekit self-update can invoke the verified installation mechanism even when the private npm executable is not on PATH.

You can also install globally with npm, pnpm, Yarn Classic, Bun, or Volta. RouteKit self-update supports those managers on macOS and Linux. System package managers such as Homebrew, apt/dpkg, rpm/dnf, pacman, Snap, and Nix remain in control of their files; RouteKit detects them and prints the appropriate external upgrade guidance rather than overwriting them.

Configure and start RouteKit

Run the guided first-launch wizard:

routekit setup
routekit status
routekit models list

The wizard can configure multiple explicitly selected routes: OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, Amazon Bedrock, Codex subscription, and Claude Code subscription. It preflights selected API providers, runs subscription enrollment, lets you choose a live default model, and safely resumes when an existing configuration is present. API credentials must already be in the environment.

Use routekit setup --no-browser on a headless host. setup is interactive and does not accept --json or --no-input.

Expected result: routekit status reports a ready gateway at http://127.0.0.1:8080, and routekit models list prints one or more namespaced model IDs from the routes selected in the wizard.

For deterministic automation, choose an API-provider starter or a provider-free subscription bootstrap:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY='your-key'
routekit config init --provider anthropic
routekit providers status anthropic
routekit models list --provider anthropic

Choose the next path

• Connect a qualified Codex or Claude Code build.
• Enroll Claude Code or Codex subscription accounts.
• Enable Anthropic, OpenRouter, or Bedrock.
• Send a direct HTTP request.

Check client compatibility before installing a native coding tool. Cursor Desktop, cursor-agent, and OpenCode are not part of the current public client-support contract.

First-launch support covers Claude Code and Codex subscription enrollment plus API-key providers OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, and Amazon Bedrock. Review the routes and billing contract before shared or production use.