First Steps

1. Run Setup Once

Start with the interactive setup wizard:

yeepilot setup

The wizard guides you through:

• choosing your AI provider
• entering your API key
• selecting a default model
• choosing the interface language
• confirming your initial preferences

If you only need to add or replace a provider later, run:

yeepilot setup --provider

If you only need to manage platform login or device access, run:

yeepilot setup --auth

2. Start the Interactive Client

Launch the full TUI with either command:

yeepilot
yeepilot run

If your installation created the short alias, this also works:

yee

Use yeepilot exec "task" when you want a single non-interactive run instead of a full session.

3. Send a Safe First Task

Start with a read-only request so you can learn the approval flow without changing anything:

> Check disk usage and show the fullest mounted filesystems first.

YeePilot will usually:

1. understand your intent
2. propose commands or a short plan
3. classify command risk
4. ask for approval when needed
5. run the approved steps
6. summarize what happened

4. Learn the Controls You Will Use Every Day

Plan-first workflow

Use plan mode whenever the task is not trivial:

/plan on
/plan status
/plan Add health checks and a smoke test for this project

/plan on keeps plan-first behavior active for the rest of the session. /plan <task> runs a single plan-first task without changing the session default.

Autonomy and safety

These controls define how much YeePilot can do before it pauses for review:

/autonomy status
/autonomy guarded
/autonomy strict_review
/mode strict
/sandbox status

Recommended baseline for important work:

• security.mode: strict
• ai.autonomy_profile: guarded or strict_review

Thinking and token use

/think medium
/tokenmode saver

Use higher thinking levels for planning and troubleshooting. Use saver for long sessions or cost-sensitive work.

5. Open the HUD Early

YeePilot includes a full-screen Neural HUD for sessions, usage, vault state, settings, and global hotkeys.

Useful entry points:

• Esc on an empty prompt opens the HUD
• F2 opens the Settings tab directly
• F3 opens the Keybinds tab directly
• /settings opens HUD settings
• /keybinds opens HUD keybind management

The HUD is where most end users manage settings after first-time setup.

6. Set Up the Vault Before You Need It

If you want local encrypted storage for credentials and SSH workflows, initialize the vault early:

yeepilot vault init --method password
yeepilot vault status

In the TUI, the fastest controls are:

/unlock
/lock
/vault status

7. Check That Everything Looks Healthy

Run these two commands after setup:

yeepilot status
yeepilot version

status is the quickest way to confirm:

• active provider and model
• whether the provider is connected
• current config directory
• session storage path
• language and credential-store basics

8. Your First Practical Workflow

Try this sequence:

> /plan Review the attached nginx config and propose a safe fix for 502 errors.
> /file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
> /file /var/log/nginx/error.log

This teaches the most important YeePilot pattern:

• start with a plan
• attach the real files
• review the proposal
• approve only what you want executed

Where To Go Next

• Interactive Chat for the main runtime workflow
• Neural HUD, Settings & Keybinds for the control surface most users rely on daily
• Credential Vault for local encrypted secret handling
• Configuration Reference for every user-facing setting