Installation

Install

npm install -g marmot-sh

This installs the marmot command. It requires Node 20 or later.

If you prefer scoped packages, install the canonical package instead:

npm install -g @marmot-sh/cli

Both packages publish the same binary.

Add one provider

For the fastest cloud setup, set an OpenRouter key:

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-...

Marmot reads keys from environment variables. It does not write key values to ~/.marmot/ai/config.json.

If you use local models, start Ollama instead. Ollama needs no API key.

ollama serve

If Ollama is not running on http://localhost:11434, set OLLAMA_HOST.

Run it

marmot 'write a haiku about caching'

On the first AI call, Marmot detects the providers available in your shell, chooses a default, writes it to ~/.marmot/ai/config.json, and continues the call. You can change that default later with marmot setup.

Optional setup

Run setup when you want to choose defaults interactively.

marmot setup

Use it to:

• choose providers and models
• set custom environment variable names
• enable response caching
• install the Marmot agent skill

Agent skill

If you use Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, or a similar harness, install the Marmot skill so the agent knows the command shape and provider matrix.

marmot setup

Choose Install agent skill. Marmot detects installed harnesses and links the skill into the right skill directory.

You can also install with the skills CLI:

npx skills add https://github.com/marmot-sh/marmot --skill marmot

Next: Quickstart, then Agent workflows if you want an agent to call Marmot directly.