Getting Started
Podium stores reusable AI agent artifacts in a catalog and translates them into the file formats used by Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, OpenCode, and other harnesses.
Start with the filesystem quickstart. It uses a local directory and
podium sync, so the basic authoring and materialization loop is visible
before server concepts appear.
Reading Order
In order:
| Page | What it covers | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Why Podium | What Podium does, when it applies, when a simpler alternative is enough, and how it compares to adjacent tools. Read first when evaluating. | ~10 minutes |
| Quickstart | Install the CLI, write one skill, materialize it into Claude Code, and see it load. Filesystem mode has no daemon and no setup beyond a CLI. | ~5 minutes |
| Concepts | Vocabulary used throughout the docs: artifact, domain, layer, harness, materialization, visibility, and meta-tools. | ~15 minutes |
| How it works | Component overview, deployment modes, where state lives, what runs in your process versus on a server. | ~15 minutes |
Where to go next
After the quickstart, choose the role-specific guide that fits the task. Many workflows involve both authoring artifacts and consuming them.
| Goal | Next | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Write artifacts | Authoring guide | Artifact types, frontmatter, how DOMAIN.md works, and when to use rule modes and hooks. |
| Use artifacts in your harness | Consuming guide | Configure Claude Code / Cursor / OpenCode / Pi / Hermes / Codex / Gemini / Claude Desktop, browse the catalog from the agent, work via the SDK. |
| Set up Podium for a team or org | Deployment guide | Pick your mode (filesystem / standalone / standard), then run it. Day-2 operations, progressive adoption of governance, OIDC cookbooks. |
| Build against the API | Reference | CLI, HTTP API, frontmatter schema, error codes, glossary. |