Quickstart

Get up and running with Kernel in one command.

The fastest way to start

Paste this into your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Goose, etc.) and let it handle the rest:

Install the Kernel CLI (brew install onkernel/tap/kernel), run kernel login, then kernel create to scaffold an app, and kernel deploy to deploy it. Use the Kernel docs at https://docs.kernel.sh for reference.

That’s it. Your agent will install the CLI, authenticate you, scaffold a project from a template, and deploy it — all in one flow.

For an even deeper integration, install the Kernel MCP server to give your agent direct access to Kernel’s browser tools: kernel mcp install --target cursor (or claude-code, windsurf, vscode, goose, zed).

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Manual setup

If you prefer to set things up yourself, follow these steps.

Already familiar with browser vendors? Skip to creating a browser directly.

Prerequisites

• Kernel account

1. Install the Kernel CLI

# Using brew (recommended)
brew install onkernel/tap/kernel

# Using pnpm
pnpm install -g @onkernel/cli

# Using npm
npm install -g @onkernel/cli

Verify the installation:

which kernel

2. Authenticate

kernel login

This opens your browser to complete the OAuth flow. Credentials are stored and refreshed automatically.

3. Create an app

kernel create

The CLI walks you through picking a language (TypeScript or Python) and a template. To skip the prompts:

kernel create --name my-app --language ts --template sample-app

4. Deploy

Typescript / Javascript

cd my-app
kernel deploy index.ts

Pass environment variables with --env-file .env if your template needs API keys.

5. Invoke

kernel invoke my-app get-page-title --payload '{"url": "https://www.google.com"}'

More invoke examples by template

Typescript / Javascript

# CAPTCHA Solver
kernel invoke ts-captcha-solver test-captcha-solver

# Stagehand
kernel invoke ts-stagehand teamsize-task --payload '{"company": "Kernel"}'

# Magnitude
kernel invoke ts-magnitude mag-url-extract --payload '{"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random"}'

# Anthropic Computer Use
kernel invoke ts-anthropic-cua cua-task --payload '{"query": "Return the first url of a search result for NYC restaurant reviews Pete Wells"}'

# OpenAI Computer Use
kernel invoke ts-openai-cua cua-task --payload '{"task": "Go to https://news.ycombinator.com and get the top 5 articles"}'

# Gemini Computer Use
kernel invoke ts-gemini-cua gemini-cua-task --payload '{"startingUrl": "https://www.magnitasks.com/", "instruction": "Click the Tasks option in the left-side bar, and move the 5 items in the To Do and In Progress items to the Done section of the Kanban board"}'

Next steps

• Install the MCP server to give AI agents direct access to Kernel browsers
• Learn about browser creation for SDK-level control
• Explore integrations with Browser Use, Stagehand, Anthropic CUA, and more
• Browse available sample apps below

Sample apps reference

These are the templates available when you run kernel create:

Template	Description	Framework
sample-app	Basic Kernel app with Playwright	Playwright
captcha-solver	Demo of Kernel’s auto-CAPTCHA solving	Playwright
browser-use	AI-powered web automation with Browser Use	Browser Use
stagehand	Stagehand v3 SDK integration	Stagehand
anthropic-computer-use	Anthropic computer use agent	Anthropic Computer Use API
openai-computer-use	OpenAI computer use agent	OpenAI Computer Use API
gemini-computer-use	Gemini computer use agent	Gemini Computer Use API
openagi-computer-use	OpenAGI computer use agent	OpenAGI Computer Use API
magnitude	Magnitude.run SDK integration	Magnitude.run