ReferenceCLI commands
BetaYou are reading docs for the beta channel (
2.4.1-beta.1) — updated automatically on every beta release.Switch to stable →CLI commands
ak agents install
Install a agent
Resolve a agent by <kit>/<agent> and copy it into the user-level install location. If the asset declares a runtime block and skill runtime is not opted out, the per-asset env is created via the runtime manager.
Who it's for: Power devs scripting (--yes --json) and users picking from list/search output.
When to use it: After confirming the agent exists with ak agents show.
What changes on disk: Writes files under ~/.claude/plugins/<kit>/. Unless AGENTKIT_SKILL_RUNTIME=0, runtime-bearing assets also write ~/.agentkit/skills/<kit>/<name>/ and ~/.agentkit/cache/<hash>/.
Usage
ak agents install <kit>/<agent> [flags]Examples
ak agents install engineer/agent-browser
ak agents install engineer/agent-browser --force
ak agents install engineer/agent-browser --yes --jsonFlags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--force | Overwrite existing install |
-h, --help | help for install |
--json | Emit machine-readable JSON (implies --no-interactive) |
--no-interactive | Disable interactive prompts (CI-safe) |
-q, --quiet | Suppress non-error output on stderr |
-V, --verbose | Extra diagnostic output on stderr (loses to --quiet) |
-y, --yes | Assume yes for all prompts |
Output modes
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
pretty | default on TTY (colors, ASCII markers) |
plain | auto when stdout piped or --no-interactive |
json | --json (single-object envelope, NDJSON-safe) |
Exit codes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
0 | success |
1 | runtime error |
2 | invalid flags |
3 | user-cancel (SIGINT, prompt-cancel) |
5 | agent not found |
6 | already installed (re-run with --force) |
Related commands
ak agents— Per-agent management commands