spawn/README.md
LAB 298065f4ad
UX: Improve error messages, help text, and progress indicators (#55)
Enhance the spawn CLI user experience with actionable error messages,
comprehensive help documentation, and visual progress feedback.

Changes:
- Help text: Add AUTHENTICATION, TROUBLESHOOTING, and MORE INFO sections
- Error messages: Show examples of valid options when validation fails
- Progress indicators: Add spinners for script downloads
- Install flow: Provide clear alternatives when npm install requires sudo
- README: Add environment variable documentation and alternative install URL
- Security errors: Suggest workarounds for false positives

All error messages now follow the pattern:
1. What went wrong
2. Why it matters
3. What to do next

Documentation: .docs/UX_IMPROVEMENTS_20260208.md

Co-authored-by: Sprite <noreply@sprite.dev>
Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-02-08 12:00:59 -08:00

6.2 KiB

Spawn

Launch any AI coding agent on any cloud with a single command. All models powered by OpenRouter. (ALPHA software, use at your own risk!)

13 agents. 18 clouds. 234 combinations. Zero config.

Install

curl -fsSL https://openrouter.ai/lab/spawn/cli/install.sh | bash

Or install directly from GitHub:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OpenRouterTeam/spawn/main/cli/install.sh | bash

Usage

spawn                         # Interactive picker
spawn <agent> <cloud>         # Launch directly
spawn list                    # Show the full matrix

Examples

spawn                                    # Interactive picker
spawn claude sprite                      # Claude Code on Sprite
spawn aider hetzner                      # Aider on Hetzner
spawn claude sprite --prompt "Fix bugs"  # Non-interactive with prompt
spawn aider sprite -p "Add tests"        # Short form
spawn claude                             # Show clouds available for Claude

Commands

Command Description
spawn Interactive agent + cloud picker
spawn <agent> <cloud> Launch agent on cloud directly
spawn <agent> <cloud> -p "text" Non-interactive with prompt
spawn <agent> <cloud> --prompt-file f.txt Prompt from file
spawn <agent> Show available clouds for an agent
spawn list Full agent x cloud matrix
spawn agents List all agents
spawn clouds List all cloud providers
spawn update Check for CLI updates

Without the CLI

Every combination works as a one-liner — no install required:

bash <(curl -fsSL https://openrouter.ai/lab/spawn/{cloud}/{agent}.sh)

Non-Interactive Mode

Skip prompts by providing environment variables:

# OpenRouter API key (required for all agents)
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-xxxxx

# Cloud-specific credentials (varies by provider)
export SPRITE_API_KEY=...        # For Sprite
export HCLOUD_TOKEN=...           # For Hetzner
export DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN=...     # For DigitalOcean

# Run non-interactively
spawn claude sprite

You can also use inline environment variables:

OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-xxxxx spawn claude sprite

Get your OpenRouter API key at: https://openrouter.ai/settings/keys

For cloud-specific auth, see each cloud's README in this repository.

Matrix

Sprite Hetzner DigitalOcean Vultr Linode Lambda Lightsail GCP E2B Modal Fly.io Civo Scaleway Daytona RunPod UpCloud BinaryLane Genesis Cloud
Claude Code
OpenClaw
NanoClaw
Aider
Goose
Codex CLI
Open Interpreter
Gemini CLI
Amazon Q CLI
Cline
gptme
OpenCode
Plandex

How it works

Each cell in the matrix is a self-contained bash script that:

  1. Provisions a server on the cloud provider
  2. Installs the coding agent
  3. Injects your OpenRouter API key so every agent uses the same billing
  4. Drops you into an interactive session

Scripts work standalone (bash <(curl ...)) or through the CLI.

Development

git clone https://github.com/OpenRouterTeam/spawn.git
cd spawn
git config core.hooksPath .githooks

Structure

{cloud}/lib/common.sh    # Cloud provider primitives (provision, SSH, cleanup)
{cloud}/{agent}.sh        # Agent deployment script
shared/common.sh          # Shared utilities (OAuth, logging, SSH helpers)
cli/                      # TypeScript CLI (bun)
manifest.json             # Source of truth for the matrix

Adding a new cloud

  1. Create {cloud}/lib/common.sh with provisioning primitives
  2. Add to manifest.json
  3. Implement agent scripts using the cloud's primitives
  4. See CLAUDE.md for full contributor guide

Adding a new agent

  1. Add to manifest.json
  2. Implement on 1+ cloud by adapting an existing agent script
  3. Must support OpenRouter via env var injection

License

Apache 2.0