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ClaudeKit Config UI

Command-line tool and web dashboard for managing ClaudeKit projects.

Version: 1.17.0

Overview

ClaudeKit Config UI (ck) provides both CLI and web dashboard for managing ClaudeKit projects. Built with Bun, TypeScript, and React, enables fast, secure project setup and comprehensive configuration management.

Key Features:

  • CLI Commands (14): new, init, config, projects, setup, skills, agents, commands, migrate, doctor, versions, update, uninstall, easter-egg
  • Web Dashboard: Interactive React UI via ck config ui for configuration and project management
  • Projects Registry: Centralized registry at ~/.claudekit/projects.json with file locking
  • Skill Installation: Install ClaudeKit skills to other coding agents (Cursor, Codex, etc.)
  • Multi-tier Authentication: gh CLI → env vars → keychain → prompt fallback
  • Smart Merging: Conflict detection with user customization preservation
  • Skills Migration: Auto-detects and migrates skills structure changes
  • Offline Installation: From local archives or directories
  • Security: Path traversal protection, symlink validation, UNC path protection
  • Cross-Platform: macOS, Linux, Windows with platform-specific optimizations
  • Update Notifications: Intelligent 7-day cache for version checks

Documentation

Comprehensive documentation in /docs:

Prerequisites

Before using ClaudeKit CLI, you need to:

  1. Purchase a ClaudeKit Starter Kit from ClaudeKit.cc
  2. Get Repository Access: After purchase, you'll receive access to the private GitHub repository containing your kit
  3. Create a GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT) with repo scope to download releases

Without a purchased kit and repository access, the CLI will not be able to download any project templates.

Installation

The ClaudeKit CLI is published on npm at npmjs.com/package/claudekit-cli.

Using npm (Recommended)

npm install -g claudekit-cli

Using Bun

bun add -g claudekit-cli

Using Yarn

yarn global add claudekit-cli

Using pnpm

pnpm add -g claudekit-cli

After installation, verify it's working:

ck --version

Usage

Discoverability Quick Start

# Top-level command discovery
ck --help

# Open config dashboard immediately
ck config

# Command-level help (recommended)
ck config --help
ck skills --help
ck agents --help
ck commands --help
ck migrate --help

Create New Project

# Interactive mode
ck new

# With options
ck new --dir my-project --kit engineer

# Show beta versions
ck new --beta

# With exclude patterns
ck new --exclude "*.log" --exclude "temp/**"

# Optional packages (OpenCode, Gemini)
ck new --opencode --gemini

# Install skills dependencies (Python, Node packages, system tools)
ck new --install-skills

# Command prefix (/ck: namespace to avoid conflicts)
ck new --prefix

# Offline installation (from local archive or directory)
ck new --archive ~/downloads/engineer-v1.16.0.zip
ck new --kit-path ~/extracted-kit/

Flags:

  • --install-skills: Auto-install Python packages, system tools (FFmpeg, ImageMagick), Node.js packages
  • --prefix: Move commands to /ck: namespace (/plan → /ck:plan)
  • --beta: Show pre-release versions in selection
  • --opencode/--gemini: Install optional packages
  • --archive <path>: Use local archive (zip/tar.gz) instead of downloading
  • --kit-path <path>: Use local kit directory instead of downloading

Initialize or Update Project

Note: Run from project root.

# Interactive mode
ck init

# Non-interactive mode with sensible defaults
ck init --yes
ck init -y

# Combine with other flags
ck init -g --kit engineer -y

# With options
ck init --kit engineer --beta

# Global mode (platform-specific paths)
ck init --global

# Fresh installation (⚠️ DESTRUCTIVE - removes ALL customizations)
ck init --fresh

# With exclude patterns and prefix
ck init --exclude "*.local" --prefix

# Offline installation (from local archive or directory)
ck init --archive ~/downloads/engineer-v1.16.0.zip
ck init --kit-path ~/extracted-kit/

Flags:

  • --yes/-y: Non-interactive mode with sensible defaults (skip all prompts)
  • --global/-g: Use platform-specific config (macOS/Linux: ~/.claude, Windows: %USERPROFILE%.claude)
  • --fresh: Clean reinstall, removes .claude directory (requires "yes" confirmation)
  • --beta: Show pre-release versions
  • --prefix: Apply /ck: namespace to commands
  • --archive <path>: Use local archive (zip/tar.gz) instead of downloading
  • --kit-path <path>: Use local kit directory instead of downloading

Default Behavior with -y Flag:

Prompt Default
Select ClaudeKit engineer (first option)
Target directory Current directory (.)
Version selection Latest stable release
Google Gemini setup Skip
Other optional features Skip

Update CLI

Keep the ClaudeKit CLI up to date:

# Check for CLI updates
ck update --check

# Update to latest version
ck update

# Update to specific version
ck update --version 1.17.0

# Update to beta / skip confirmation
ck update --beta
ck update --yes

The CLI notifies you when updates are available via ck --version.

Skills Migration:

  • Auto-detects structure changes (flat → categorized)
  • Preserves customizations (SHA-256 hashing)
  • Creates backup before migration
  • Rollback on failure

List Available Versions

# Show all available versions for all kits
ck versions

# Filter by specific kit
ck versions --kit engineer
ck versions --kit marketing

# Show more versions (default: 30)
ck versions --limit 50

# Include prereleases and drafts
ck versions --all

Diagnostics & Doctor

# Full health check (default)
ck doctor

# Verbose mode with execution timing and command details
ck doctor --verbose

# Generate shareable diagnostic report (prompts for gist upload)
ck doctor --report

# Auto-fix all fixable issues
ck doctor --fix

# CI mode: no prompts, exit 1 on failures
ck doctor --check-only

# Machine-readable JSON output
ck doctor --json

# Combine flags
ck doctor --verbose --check-only --json
ck doctor --verbose --fix

Health Checks:

  • System: Node.js, npm, Python, pip, Claude CLI, git, gh CLI
  • ClaudeKit: Global/project installation, versions, skills
  • Auth: GitHub CLI authentication, repository access
  • Project: package.json, node_modules, lock files
  • Modules: Dynamic skill dependency resolution

Auto-Fix Capabilities:

Issue Fix Action
Missing dependencies Install via package manager
Missing gh auth Run gh auth login
Corrupted node_modules Reinstall dependencies
Missing global install Run ck init --global
Missing skill deps Install in skill directory

Exit Codes:

  • 0: All checks pass or issues fixed
  • 1: Failures detected (only with --check-only)

Note: ck diagnose is deprecated. Use ck doctor instead.

Uninstall

Remove ClaudeKit installations from your system:

ck uninstall              # Interactive mode - prompts for scope and confirmation
ck uninstall --local      # Uninstall only local installation (current project)
ck uninstall --global     # Uninstall only global installation (~/.claude/)
ck uninstall -l -y        # Local only, skip confirmation
ck uninstall -g -y        # Global only, skip confirmation
ck uninstall --yes        # Non-interactive - skip confirmation (for scripts)

Scope Selection:

  • When both local and global installations exist, you'll be prompted to choose:
    • Local only: Remove from current project (.claude/)
    • Global only: Remove from user directory (~/.claude/)
    • Both: Remove all ClaudeKit installations
  • Use --local or --global flags to skip the prompt

What it does:

  • Detects local .claude directory in current project
  • Detects global ~/.claude ClaudeKit installation
  • Shows paths before deletion
  • Requires confirmation (unless --yes flag)
  • Removes ClaudeKit subdirectories (commands/, agents/, skills/, workflows/, hooks/, metadata.json)
  • Preserves user configs like settings.json, settings.local.json, and CLAUDE.md

Note: Only removes valid ClaudeKit installations (with metadata.json). Regular .claude directories from Claude Desktop are not affected.

Other Commands

# Show CLI version (shows local + global kit versions)
ck --version

# Show help
ck --help
ck -h

# Command-specific help
ck new --help
ck init --help
ck config --help
ck skills --help
ck versions --help

Debugging

ck new --verbose              # Enable verbose logging
ck new --verbose --log-file debug.log  # Save to file
CLAUDEKIT_VERBOSE=1 ck new   # Via environment variable

Cache Configuration

Release data is cached locally to improve performance. You can configure the cache TTL:

# Set custom cache TTL (in seconds, default: 3600 = 1 hour)
CK_CACHE_TTL=7200 ck versions    # Cache for 2 hours
CK_CACHE_TTL=0 ck versions       # Disable caching (always fetch fresh)

# Permanent configuration (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
export CK_CACHE_TTL=1800         # 30 minutes

Cache Location: ~/.claudekit/cache/releases/

Update Notifications

The ck --version command checks for newer versions of your installed ClaudeKit and displays a notification if an update is available. The check is cached for 7 days to minimize API calls.

Disable Update Notifications:

# Set environment variable to disable
NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER=1 ck --version

# Windows (permanent)
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER", "1", [System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)

# macOS/Linux (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
export NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER=1

Cache Location: ~/.claudekit/cache/version-check.json (Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.claudekit\cache\)

Authentication

The CLI requires GitHub authentication to download releases from private repositories.

Authentication Flow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│          Multi-Tier Authentication               │
│                                                  │
│  1. GitHub CLI (gh auth token)                  │
│       ↓ (if not available)                       │
│  2. Environment Variables (GITHUB_TOKEN)        │
│       ↓ (if not set)                             │
│  3. Config File (~/.claudekit/config.json)      │
│       ↓ (if not found)                           │
│  4. OS Keychain (secure storage)                │
│       ↓ (if not stored)                          │
│  5. User Prompt (with save option)              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Quick Setup

Step 1: Install GitHub CLI

# Windows
winget install GitHub.cli

# macOS
brew install gh

# Linux
sudo apt install gh

Step 2: Authenticate with GitHub CLI

gh auth login

When prompted, follow these steps:

  1. Select GitHub.com
  2. Select HTTPS (or SSH if preferred)
  3. Authenticate Git? → Yes
  4. Select Login with a web browser (⚠️ recommended)
  5. Copy the one-time code shown
  6. Press Enter to open browser and paste the code
  7. Authorize GitHub CLI

⚠️ Important: Select "Login with a web browser" - do NOT use "Paste an authentication token" as PAT authentication is no longer supported for accessing private repositories.

Troubleshooting

Run the doctor command to diagnose issues:

# Interactive diagnostics
ck doctor

# Generate report for support
ck doctor --report

# CI/automation
ck doctor --check-only --json

# Verbose logging
ck new --verbose
ck init --verbose

Common Issues:

  • "Access denied": Run ck doctor to check auth, use --fix to auto-repair
  • "Authentication failed": Run ck doctor --fix to re-authenticate, or manually run gh auth login (select 'Login with a web browser')
  • "GitHub CLI not authenticated": Run gh auth login and select 'Login with a web browser' (NOT 'Paste token')
  • Module errors: Run ck doctor --fix to reinstall skill dependencies
  • Need help: Run ck doctor --report and share the gist URL

Available Kits

ClaudeKit offers premium starter kits available for purchase at ClaudeKit.cc:

  • engineer: ClaudeKit Engineer - Engineering toolkit for building with Claude (v1.0.0+)
  • marketing: ClaudeKit Marketing - Content automation toolkit (v1.0.0 available)

Each kit provides a comprehensive project template with best practices, tooling, and workflows optimized for Claude Code development.

Configuration

Configuration is stored in ~/.claudekit/config.json:

{
  "github": {
    "token": "stored_in_keychain"
  },
  "defaults": {
    "kit": "engineer",
    "dir": "."
  }
}

Protected Files

The following file patterns are protected and will not be overwritten during updates:

  • .env, .env.local, .env.*.local
  • *.key, *.pem, *.p12
  • node_modules/**, .git/**
  • dist/**, build/**

Excluding Files

Use --exclude flag with glob patterns to skip files:

ck new --exclude "*.log" --exclude "temp/**"
ck update --exclude "node_modules/**" --exclude "dist/**"

Patterns: * (any chars), ** (recursive), ? (single char), [abc], {a,b} Restrictions: No absolute paths, no path traversal (..), 1-500 chars Note: User patterns are ADDED to default protected patterns

Custom .claude Files & Skills Migration

Custom File Preservation: The CLI automatically preserves your custom .claude/ files during updates:

  • Custom slash commands
  • Personal workflows
  • Project-specific configurations
  • Any other custom files in .claude/ directory

Skills Directory Migration: Automatic migration when structure changes (flat → categorized):

  • Detection: Manifest-based + heuristic fallback
  • Customizations: SHA-256 hash comparison detects modifications
  • Safety: Backup before migration, rollback on failure
  • Preservation: All customizations preserved during migration
  • Interactive: Prompts for confirmation (can skip in CI/CD)

Example Migration:

Before (flat):
  .claude/skills/
    ├── gemini-vision/
    ├── postgresql-psql/
    └── cloudflare-dns/

After (categorized):
  .claude/skills/
    ├── ai-multimodal/
    │   └── gemini-vision/
    ├── databases/
    │   └── postgresql-psql/
    └── devops/
        └── cloudflare-dns/

Customizations in any skill are detected and preserved automatically.

Development

See Development Guide for:

  • Project structure (modular domain-driven architecture)
  • Build & compilation (bun run build, bun run compile)
  • Testing & type checking
  • Code standards & linting

Architecture Highlights:

  • Modular design: 122 focused modules (target: <100 lines each)
  • Facade pattern: Each domain exposes public API via facade
  • Phase handlers: Complex commands use orchestrator + phase handlers
  • Self-documenting names: kebab-case file names describe purpose

Quick Start:

bun install
bun run dev new --kit engineer
bun test
# Optional: run expensive CLI integration tests explicitly
bun run test:integration

FAQ

Q: Do I need GitHub CLI? A: Yes, GitHub CLI is required. ClaudeKit uses it exclusively for authentication with private repositories.

Q: How do I authenticate? A: Run gh auth login, select 'Login with a web browser', complete OAuth in browser. Do NOT use 'Paste an authentication token'.

Q: "Access denied" error? A: Accept GitHub repo invitation, re-run gh auth login with web browser login, wait 2-5min for permissions.

Q: "GitHub CLI not authenticated" error? A: Run gh auth login and select 'Login with a web browser' (NOT 'Paste token'). PAT authentication is no longer supported.

Q: Is my token secure? A: Yes. GitHub CLI manages tokens securely via OAuth, stored encrypted in OS keychain.

License

MIT

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A CLI command to get started with ClaudeKit

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