Installation

Prerequisites

Requirement	Needed for
Node.js ≥ 18.13	All CLIs
PowerShell (Windows PowerShell 5.1+ or pwsh on macOS/Linux)	Runtime assets of sdtk-spec, sdtk-ops, sdtk-code
Python 3.8+	sdtk-spec atlas only (sdtk-wiki atlas build is native Node — no Python)
Claude Code or Codex CLI	Executing skills; the SDTK CLIs themselves run without a runtime

Unified install (recommended)

npm install -g sdtk-kit

The umbrella package installs all six toolkit CLIs plus the unified sdtk command. Then initialize a project for your runtime:

Claude Code

sdtk init --runtime claude

Codex

sdtk init --runtime codex

sdtk init runs each toolkit's setup in a fixed order — spec → ops → code → design with runtime assets, then wiki → agent as plain init (those two install no skills; they're CLI-driven).

Init options

Flag	Meaning
--runtime <claude|codex>	Which runtime to install skills for (required)
--runtime-scope <project|user>	Override the default scope
--global	Shorthand for user scope
--project-path <path>	Initialize a different directory
--force	Overwrite existing runtime assets (use after updates)
--skip-runtime-assets	Init workspaces only, install no skills
--keep-going	Continue past a failing kit instead of stopping
--verbose	Detailed per-kit output

Where skills land

Runtime	Default scope	Location
Claude Code	project	.claude/skills/ in your repo
Claude Code (--global)	user	~/.claude/skills/
Codex	user	$CODEX_HOME/skills/ (default ~/.codex/skills/)
Codex (project)	project	Only via an explicit CODEX_HOME=<project>/.codex launch contract — see Codex integration

Standalone kits

Every toolkit is also its own npm package if you only want one:

npm install -g sdtk-spec-kit    # sdtk-spec
npm install -g sdtk-design-kit  # sdtk-design
npm install -g sdtk-code-kit    # sdtk-code
npm install -g sdtk-ops-kit     # sdtk-ops
npm install -g sdtk-wiki-kit    # sdtk-wiki
npm install -g sdtk-agent-kit   # sdtk-agent

Runtime-aware kits (spec, ops, code, design) expose their own runtime install|status|uninstall (design uses init/start flows). Wiki and agent need only init.

Updating

sdtk update              # update all installed kits
sdtk update --check-only # just report what's outdated

After updating, refresh runtime assets in each project:

sdtk init --runtime claude --force   # or --runtime codex

Uninstalling

Remove runtime assets from projects first, then the packages:

sdtk-spec runtime uninstall
sdtk-ops runtime uninstall
sdtk-code runtime uninstall
npm uninstall -g sdtk-kit

Pro activation

The core suite is free and MIT-licensed. A one-time Pro license unlocks premium capabilities on a machine:

sdtk activate --license SDTK-XXXX-YYYY
sdtk-spec entitlement status

Pro capabilities today:

• sdtk-spec project ingest|audit|refresh — Project Intelligence Pro
• sdtk-wiki ask — grounded Q&A over your built graph Pro

Pro commands fail closed without an entitlement — they exit with a clear message instead of degrading silently.

Where to go next

QuickstartFirst governed workflow on Claude Code or Codex.

Claude Code integrationSkills, slash commands, and session flow.

TroubleshootingPATH issues, PowerShell, permission errors, version drift.