> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://qitor.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Run your first QitOS minimal coding agent in under 2 minutes, then inspect it with qita.

This guide takes you from a fresh environment to a model-backed minimal coding agent and a live trace view in under 2 minutes.

Here is what the runtime looks like when you watch it work:

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/qitor/mH1ypmmNT_nTLZfM/images/qitos-cli.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mH1ypmmNT_nTLZfM&q=85&s=1d774254986b0a29b056bdcb3a5d7a5d" alt="QitOS runtime snapshot" width="3456" height="1828" data-path="images/qitos-cli.png" />

<Note>
  Need a provider first? Read [Prerequisites](/prerequisites). It explains how to get an OpenAI-compatible API key and validate your endpoint before running QitOS.
</Note>

## Prerequisites

* Python 3.10 or later
* `pip`
* An OpenAI-compatible API key

## Steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install QitOS">
    ```bash theme={null}
    pip install "qitos[models]"
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set your provider config">
    ```bash theme={null}
    export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
    export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://api.siliconflow.cn/v1/"
    export QITOS_MODEL="Qwen/Qwen3-8B"
    ```

    <Tip>
      Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint works. Point `OPENAI_BASE_URL` at your provider if you're not using OpenAI directly.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run the minimal coding agent">
    ```bash theme={null}
    qit demo minimal
    ```

    This demo creates a small workspace with a buggy file, configures a real model, asks a minimal coding agent to fix the bug, runs verification, and writes a qita-ready trace. You should see output similar to:

    ```
    model_name: Qwen/Qwen3-8B
    workspace: .../playground/minimal_coding_agent
    target_file: buggy_module.py
    trace_run: .../runs/qitos_minimal_coding_<timestamp>
    final_result: Patch applied and verification passed.
    stop_reason: final
    next_step: qita board --logdir runs
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Inspect the run with qita">
    ```bash theme={null}
    qita board --logdir runs
    ```

    Open [http://127.0.0.1:8765](http://127.0.0.1:8765) in your browser. The board shows every run in your log directory with step counts, stop reasons, and final results. Click **view** on any run to inspect its step-by-step trajectory (the temporal sequence of prompts, decisions, tool calls, and observations), or **replay** to play it back.

    <Tip>
      The packaged demo and [`examples/quickstart/minimal_agent.py`](https://github.com/Qitor/qitos/blob/main/examples/quickstart/minimal_agent.py) follow the same minimal coding-agent path. Start from the example file when you want to read or customize the code directly.
    </Tip>
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What's next

You've run a minimal coding agent and inspected its trace. Here's where to go from here:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Build your first agent" icon="code" href="/guides/build-your-first-agent">
    A walkthrough of the minimal coding-agent shape: state, model, tools, run, and qita
  </Card>

  <Card title="Tutorial track" icon="graduation-cap" href="/tutorials">
    Learn agent design step by step through ReAct, PlanAct, Claude Code-style, and security audit lessons
  </Card>

  <Card title="Observability" icon="chart-line" href="/guides/observability">
    Everything qita can do: board, replay, and export
  </Card>

  <Card title="Benchmarks" icon="trophy" href="/benchmarks/overview">
    Run GAIA, Tau-Bench, and CyBench on the QitOS kernel
  </Card>
</CardGroup>