Quickstart
Install Dropstone, sign in, and ship your first change in under five minutes. This guide gets you from zero to a working agent loop.
By the end of this guide you will have Dropstone installed, signed in, and producing real edits in a project of your choice.
Before you begin
You need:
- A terminal or command prompt
- A project on disk to point Dropstone at (any language, any size)
- A Dropstone account, which you can create at dropstone.io
Step 1: Install Dropstone
Pick the install path for your platform.
Homebrew (recommended):
brew tap blankline-org/dropstone-cli
brew install dropstone
Or the install script:
curl -fsSL https://dropstone.io/install | bash
Both methods install a single dropstone binary on your PATH. No Node, no runtime dependencies.
Verify the install:
dropstone --version
You should see a version number (the current release is 1.0.8). The binary self-updates in the background, so you stay current without re-running the installer.
Step 2: Sign in
Move into any project directory and start Dropstone:
cd /path/to/your/project
dropstone
On first launch you will be prompted to sign in. Two options:
- Continue in browser (recommended). Opens dropstone.io/login, signs you in, and hands the token back to the CLI automatically. Uses PKCE so the token never appears in your browser URL bar.
- Paste a token. For SSH or headless sessions. Get a token at dropstone.io/account and paste it in.
Your credentials are stored on disk after the first sign-in. To switch accounts later, run /login from inside Dropstone.
Step 3: Start your first session
You are now looking at the Dropstone home screen. Three things to notice:
- Your current model tier is shown at the top right (default: Dropstone Fast)
- The input box at the bottom is where you type
- Slash commands begin with
/. Try/helpto see them all
Type any natural-language prompt to start a session. There is no special syntax to learn.
Step 4: Ask your first question
Let Dropstone tour the project for you. Try one of these:
what does this project do?
what are the main entry points?
explain the folder structure
Dropstone will read files on demand and answer with citations to the actual code. You do not need to paste files or write context manually.
You can also ask Dropstone about itself:
what can you do in this project?
what commands have you been given permission to run?
Step 5: Make your first code change
Now describe a small change. For a new project, try something low-risk:
add a README with a one-paragraph project description
For an existing project:
add input validation to the function that creates a user
Dropstone will:
- Find the relevant file
- Show the proposed change as a diff
- Ask for your approval before writing
- Verify the result (type checks, tests, lints if available)
Permissions:
Dropstone asks for approval the first time it wants to edit a file or run a shell command. Approve once, and the same operation in the same session runs without re-prompting. Use /permissions to view or revoke what you have allowed.
Step 6: Work with git
Dropstone treats git as a first-class tool:
what files have I changed?
commit my changes with a descriptive message
create a branch called feature/health-endpoint and switch to it
show the last five commits
help me resolve the merge conflict in src/auth.ts
For PR-level workflows (opening pull requests, generating PR descriptions, posting review comments), see GitHub integration.
Step 7: Fix a bug or add a feature
Describe what you want in plain language. Dropstone will locate the code, understand the context, implement the change, and verify it.
there is a bug where empty search queries return all results - fix it
add a /healthz endpoint to the API server that returns build info
the login form crashes when the email is missing - figure out why and fix it
If the task spans several files, Dropstone will write a short plan and execute it step by step. You can press Esc at any point to interrupt and steer.
Step 8: Try other common workflows
A few patterns Dropstone is good at:
Refactor
refactor the auth module to use async/await instead of callbacks
Write tests
write unit tests for the calculator functions
Code review
review my staged changes and flag anything risky
Documentation
update the README install instructions to include the WSL path
Tip:
Talk to Dropstone like a teammate. Describe what you want to achieve, not the exact steps to get there. The agent is best at planning when you leave the implementation choices to it.
Essential commands
The handful of commands you will actually use:
| Command | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
dropstone | Start an interactive session in the current directory | dropstone |
dropstone run "task" | Run a one-off task and exit | dropstone run "explain auth.ts" |
dropstone -c | Continue the last session in this directory | dropstone -c |
dropstone --session ID | Resume a specific session by id | dropstone --session 7f3a... |
/help | Show all slash commands | inside a session |
/effort | Switch model tier for this session | /effort high |
/clear | Clear the current conversation | inside a session |
/login | Switch accounts | inside a session |
exit or Ctrl+D | Exit Dropstone |
The full reference is on the CLI and slash commands pages.
Pro tips for new users
What's next
Getting help
- Inside Dropstone, type
/helpor ask in plain language ("how do I switch models?") - Browse the rest of the docs at docs.dropstone.io
- File an issue or feature request at dropstone.io/contact