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1. Simple: Single Agent

Start with the smallest useful Chronos application: one agent, one provider, and one system prompt.

Create .chronos/agents.yaml​

agents:
  - id: assistant
    name: Personal Assistant
    model:
      provider: openai
      model: gpt-5.5
      api_key: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}
    storage:
      backend: none
    system_prompt: |
      You are a friendly personal assistant.
      Be concise and helpful. Use bullet points for lists.

Validate and run​

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-key-here

# Strict validation catches misspelled or invalid fields.
chronos config validate

# Inspect what loaded.
chronos agent list
chronos agent show assistant

# Send one message.
chronos run "What are three interesting facts about the moon?"

# Start an interactive conversation.
chronos repl

Because this file is at .chronos/agents.yaml, Chronos discovers it automatically.

Enable streaming​

Set the default in YAML:

agents:
  - id: assistant
    name: Personal Assistant
    stream: true
    model:
      provider: openai
      model: gpt-5.5
      api_key: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}
    storage:
      backend: none
    system_prompt: You are a concise, helpful assistant.

Or override it per command:

chronos run --stream "Explain goroutines in simple terms"
chronos run --no-stream "Return one complete, validated answer"

Inside the REPL, use /stream on, /stream off, or /stream to inspect the current mode.

Add reusable defaults​

When you add more agents, move repeated model and storage settings into defaults:

defaults:
  model:
    provider: openai
    model: gpt-5.5
    api_key: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}
  storage:
    backend: none
  stream: true

agents:
  - id: assistant
    name: Personal Assistant
    system_prompt: You are a concise, helpful assistant.

  - id: summarizer
    name: Summarizer
    system_prompt: Summarize the supplied text in five bullets or fewer.
chronos agent list
chronos run --agent summarizer "Summarize: ..."

Try a local model​

Ollama requires no API key:

agents:
  - id: local-assistant
    name: Local Assistant
    model:
      provider: ollama
      model: llama3.2
      base_url: http://localhost:11434
    storage:
      backend: none
    system_prompt: You are a helpful local assistant.
ollama pull llama3.2
chronos config validate
chronos run "Say hello from a local model"

What to learn next​