The first time you open kill9, a setup wizard appears. It has two steps shown in a left sidebar with a progress indicator. You can revisit any of these settings later in the app.
What to have ready
- An API key or account with an AI provider
- A codebase folder you want kill9 to work with
Step 1: Project
This step tells kill9 which codebase to work with.
If you already have projects in kill9, you can Select existing. Otherwise, Create new.
For a new project, enter a Name and Key. The key is auto-generated from the name — it's a short uppercase identifier like "K9" or "API" that appears on initiative cards. You can change it if you want.
Then set up your Workspace name and Add repositories. Point kill9 at your codebase folder on disk. kill9 reads the files to understand the project structure.
Each repository shows a verification status. kill9 optionally runs verification commands — Install, Start, Test, Build, Lint, Typecheck, E2E tests — to confirm the project is healthy. These aren't required, but they help agents know how to work with your codebase.
When everything looks right, click Continue.
Step 2: AI
This step connects kill9 to an AI provider so agents can reason and generate code.
The screen shows a grid of providers: Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, GitHub Copilot, Codex, MiniMax, Z.AI Coding Plan, and Kimi. Each provider card shows whether it supports OAuth, API keys, or both.
Click Sign In for OAuth providers. Your browser opens, you authorize the connection, and you're returned to kill9. For API key providers, click Add Key and paste your key.
After connecting at least one provider, a model picker appears below. Each model shows its context window size — how much code and conversation it can hold at once. Pick one as your default. You cannot continue without a default model selected.
You can add more providers later in Settings → Models.
Click Enter workspace after selecting a default model. The main workspace opens immediately.
After onboarding
You'll land in the main app with the workspace rail on the left. The first useful place is Inbox (Mod+1), where work items and agent activity appear.
You can change your provider, workspace, or any other setting later by opening Settings (Cmd/Ctrl+,).