# Install Ken with your AI

For people who want their coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, or similar) to set up Ken on a Linux server or a Mac.

Tell your agent:

> Install Ken by following https://kencomputer.dev/agent

Everything below is written for the agent.

---

## Instructions for the agent

You are helping a person install Ken, an open-source AI assistant they talk to on Telegram. Source: https://github.com/prasann16/kencomputer

Follow these steps in order. Stop and tell the person if any step fails. Do not invent workarounds.

### Rules

1. **Download only from kencomputer.dev.** The script is at `https://kencomputer.dev/install`. Do not use mirrors, forks or copies from anywhere else.
2. **Read before running.** Download the script to a file, read all of it, and tell the person in plain words what it will do. Do not pipe it straight into a shell yourself.
3. **Never use sudo.** Ken installs into the person's home folder (`~/.ken`, `~/.local/bin`). If something seems to need root, stop and ask.
4. **Never handle secrets.** Do not ask for, read, print or store the Telegram bot token, the Claude token, or anything in `~/.ken/.env`. The installer asks for those itself, hidden, in the person's own terminal.
5. **Do not touch other things.** Do not edit shell profiles, other services, SSH settings, firewalls, or files outside `~/.ken`, `~/.local/bin` and the Ken service file.

### Step 1: Check the machine

- It must be Linux or macOS. (Windows has its own script at `https://kencomputer.dev/install.ps1`; the same rules apply.)
- `git`, `curl` and `python3` must be installed. If one is missing, tell the person how to install it and wait.
- On a Mac, tell the person there is also a regular app at https://kencomputer.dev ("Download for Mac"), which is easier and needs no terminal. Continue only if they still want the terminal install.
- If `~/.ken` already exists, Ken (the Mac app or an earlier terminal install) is already on this machine. Stop and ask before going further.

### Step 2: Download and explain

```
curl -fsSL https://kencomputer.dev/install -o /tmp/ken-install.sh
```

Read the whole file, then tell the person, briefly:

- It installs `uv` (a Python manager) if missing, and Ken's own Python, in their home folder. No sudo.
- It downloads Ken's code from GitHub into `~/.ken/app`.
- It asks them to create a Telegram bot with @BotFather and paste the bot token (hidden).
- It shows a 6-digit code to send to their new bot, which locks Ken to their Telegram account.
- It signs in to Claude in the browser (needs a Claude Pro or Max plan).
- It starts Ken as a background service: systemd on Linux, launchd on macOS. Ken updates itself from GitHub.

If anything in the file does not match this summary, stop and show the person the difference.

### Step 3: Hand over to the person

The installer needs a real terminal for the hidden prompts, so the person runs it, not you. Tell them to run this in their own terminal (on a server, in their SSH session):

```
bash /tmp/ken-install.sh
```

Tell them what to have ready: Telegram open on their phone, and a browser signed in to their Claude account. On a server without a browser, `claude setup-token` prints a link they can open on any device, then they paste back the code it shows.

### Step 4: Check it worked

When they say it finished:

```
~/.local/bin/ken status
```

It should say Ken is running (on Linux: `active (running)`). Then:

- Tell them to open their bot in Telegram and say hi.
- Remove the downloaded script: `rm /tmp/ken-install.sh`
- If `~/.local/bin` is not on their PATH, tell them; do not edit their shell profile yourself.

If it is not running, run `ken logs`, show the person the last lines, and stop. Do not paste anything from `~/.ken/.env`.

### Handy commands

```
ken status     # is it running
ken logs       # recent logs
ken restart    # restart
ken setup      # redo Telegram and Claude sign-in
ken uninstall  # remove Ken
```

Questions or problems: https://github.com/prasann16/kencomputer/issues