> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orinadus.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Build the binary, verify the setup, run the daemon, and connect your first IDE.

## 1. Build

```bash theme={null}
git clone https://github.com/orinadus-systems/urchin
cd urchin
cargo build
```

The binary lands at `target/debug/urchin`. For a release build:

```bash theme={null}
cargo build --release
# → target/release/urchin
```

To install to `~/.cargo/bin` (puts `urchin` on PATH):

```bash theme={null}
cargo install --path crates/urchin-cli
```

## 2. Verify

```bash theme={null}
urchin doctor
```

Output shows identity (account + device), config source, vault path, journal path, intake port, and current journal stats. If the journal does not exist yet, event count will be 0 — that is normal.

## 3. Start the daemon

```bash theme={null}
urchin serve
```

This starts:

* The HTTP intake server on `127.0.0.1:18799`
* A background collector tick loop that runs every configured collector

The daemon runs in the foreground. Use a process supervisor or your shell's backgrounding to keep it running across sessions.

Verify it is up:

```bash theme={null}
curl http://127.0.0.1:18799/health
```

```json theme={null}
{"status":"ok","events":0,"ephemeral":false}
```

## 4. Ingest your first event

```bash theme={null}
urchin ingest --content "First event" --source cli
```

Or via HTTP:

```bash theme={null}
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:18799/ingest \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001",
    "timestamp": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
    "source": "cli",
    "kind": "conversation",
    "content": "First event"
  }'
```

```json theme={null}
{"id":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001","status":"ok"}
```

## 5. Connect an IDE

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="VS Code / Copilot">
    Create `.vscode/mcp.json` in your workspace:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "servers": {
        "urchin": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "urchin",
          "args": ["mcp"]
        }
      }
    }
    ```

    Restart VS Code. The Copilot Chat agent now has access to all 10 Urchin MCP tools.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Cursor">
    The repo ships `.cursor/mcp.json`. Open the repo in Cursor and it picks up automatically.

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "urchin": {
          "command": "urchin",
          "args": ["mcp"]
        }
      }
    }
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Zed">
    Add to `~/.config/zed/settings.json`:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "context_servers": {
        "urchin": {
          "command": {
            "path": "urchin",
            "args": ["mcp"]
          }
        }
      }
    }
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

After connecting, run `urchin_status` in the assistant to confirm the substrate is reachable.

## 6. Run a collector

```bash theme={null}
# Shell history
urchin collect shell

# Git commits in a repo
urchin collect git --repo /path/to/your/repo

# All collectors at once
urchin collect all
```

## Next steps

* [How it works](/urchin/how-it-works) — journal internals, write safety, ephemeral mode
* [Configuration](/urchin/configuration/config-file) — set vault path, journal path, tokens
* [CLI reference](/urchin/cli/ingest) — all subcommands and flags