Installation

Set up taoCode first, then connect a gateway for model inference. You do not need a crypto wallet for API-key access.

Get taoCode

See the installation page for setup instructions. A working installation should make the taocode command available in your terminal.

Run from a source checkout

If you have access to the taoCode source, use the Bun version declared in its package.json. From the repository root:

bun install
bun run dev

This launches the development CLI; it does not install a global taocode binary. The commands elsewhere in these docs assume you have that binary installed. For a source checkout, pass the same arguments to bun run dev instead.

Verify the command

For a binary installation, open a new terminal and run:

taocode --help

If the shell says command not found, make sure the directory containing your binary is on PATH. Restart the terminal after updating your shell configuration.

Get a gateway key

Choose a gateway and connect your account to see the models available to you.

Gateway	API key	Environment variable
Chutes · SN64	Chutes account	`CHUTES_API_KEY`
Targon · SN4	Targon account	`TARGON_API_KEY`

You can enter the key in the onboarding flow or set it for your terminal session.

macOS and Linux

export CHUTES_API_KEY="your-chutes-key"
# Or use Targon:
export TARGON_API_KEY="your-targon-key"

Windows PowerShell

$env:CHUTES_API_KEY = "your-chutes-key"
# Or use Targon:
$env:TARGON_API_KEY = "your-targon-key"

These commands set variables for the current shell. Avoid putting actual keys in project files or source control.

Check the connection

taocode models

Look for a model reference beginning with tao/. If none appear, check the key in the same terminal, gateway access, and account balance. Stored credentials may take precedence over environment variables; see key resolution.

You are ready for the quickstart.