Quick start guide

Install the Tessl CLI

Install the Tessl CLI globally using npm:

npm install -g @tessl/cli

For more detailed installation instructions, including authentication and troubleshooting, see Installation.

Initialize Tessl in your project

From your project's root directory, run:

tessl init

This command will:

• Authenticate you with Tessl (if not already logged in)

• Sync your project dependencies

• Optionally configure your coding agent for MCP support

Configuring your agent for MCP

By default, tessl init will attempt to auto-detect your coding agent and configure MCP support automatically. If you don't have any agent configuration installed yet, or want to explicitly specify which agent to configure, use the --agent flag:

tessl init --agent cursor
# or
tessl init --agent claude-code

Search and install a tile

Search for tiles in the Tessl registry to add context for external libraries or frameworks you're using. For example, to search for Express.js:

tessl search express

This will display available tiles matching your search. Select the one you want to install (e.g., tessl/npm-express 4.21.2).

After installation, the tile will be added to .tessl/tiles/ in your project, and your agent will have access to it through MCP.

Use tiles with your coding agent

Once you've installed tiles and configured MCP support for your agent, you can start coding with enhanced context.

Open your configured agent (Cursor, Claude Code, etc.) and try a prompt that would benefit from the tile context. For example:

Create an Express.js server with routes for user authentication

Your agent will automatically use the installed Express.js tile to provide better, more accurate code that follows current best practices for the library.

See Better code with usage specs for more inspiration on how to use tiles effectively.