Quickstart

Install hob and connect an agent

Download hob for your operating system, install it, and open it. Setup prepares this computer for your agents.

At Connect your agents, choose Install for Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, or Grok Build. hob runs the provider's official installer and checks the result. A compatible tool you already have counts too. Continue when at least one card shows Installed; sign in to that tool when you start your first agent. If the button shows Install ↗, it opens the provider's installation instructions instead.

Then pick a theme, arrange your tools, and finish the agent-file-sync step. At Activate hob, start a free trial or enter your license key. Your hob subscription is separate from your agent provider accounts.

Setup ends with the most useful thing to know: your agents know hob. Ask any agent how to do something in hob, or ask it to do it for you, such as putting the Files panel on the right or making a warmer version of your theme. If you have no projects yet, open the Demo Project on the next screen to try it.

Later, use Settings → Agents → CLI installations to add another tool.

Open your project

Choose Open project and select your repository's root. This gives your agents the right working directory and keeps the project's sessions, issues, terminals, and history together.

A workspace groups the panes for one workstream. Start with the default workspace, then create more as you take on separate tasks. See Projects and workspaces when you need to organize parallel work or use a worktree.

Ask an agent to explain your codebase

Choose New Agent from the command palette or an empty pane. Select a backend and model before starting the conversation, then give the agent a bounded first task:

Read the response and the files it points to. Review any permission request before approving it. Permission and planning controls depend on the backend and selected mode; a question, a plan, and permission to run an action are different decisions.

Working with your agent shows how agents open context, ask questions, and draw attention to their work.

Make one small change

Pick something with a result you can recognize: clarify a label, fix a specific bug, or improve an existing check. If you need ideas:

After choosing, tell the agent what success looks like and ask it to leave the change uncommitted for review. Keep a preview or relevant file beside the conversation so you can see the result. For a web app, ask the agent to try the change in the preview while you watch. Answer its questions as it works, and correct it early when it goes the wrong way.

Review and verify

Open Changes in the Dock and select a changed file to review its diff. Choose New Terminal to run the project's existing test, lint, or build command beside the agent. The terminal guide explains command blocks and how to reuse earlier commands.

Check behavior as well as command results. When you are satisfied, ask the agent to commit the reviewed change with a clear message. The commit and its conversation context help you recover why it was made later.