## Get a token

Your token is the key your agent uses to reach your private protocols and your repo. Keep it handy — in step 2 you'll type it into a hidden prompt in your own terminal, never into the chat.

[Sign up + create a token](/api-keys)

## Paste this into Claude Code

The install protocol has your agent set up [curly](https://github.com/wildeagency/curly), then step aside: it tells you to run `curly init protocol` in your own terminal, where you paste your token into a hidden prompt.

`Let's use protocol. Set it up by following https://api.protocol.supply/@protocol/install.md`

No token in the snippet — your token never passes through the agent, the chat, or this page. It goes straight from your clipboard into `~/.curly.yaml` (chmod 600).

## Run a checkup

The checkup inspects your setup — harness file, always-loaded context, wiring — and prescribes the single next improvement. The first thing it usually finds: the bloated context file this site promised to shrink. Re-run it any time; the delta is your progress.

`Fetch https://api.protocol.supply/@protocol/checkup and run it.`

Protocol continuously improves. Protocol teaches you about protocol. In a world of continuously evolving agents, the data layer is the foundation, and an intelligent data layer is a superpower.

### To get the most out of protocol

- **Have it learn from your current workspace, projects, and skills.** Point it at your existing files and let it extract the protocols you've already been writing without calling them protocols.
- **Edit your bootstrap to fine-tune how your sessions start.** [Open bootstrap settings →](/settings/bootstrap)
- **Use impulses** — an agent-friendly model for tasks, projects, sessions, and responsibilities.
- **Allow it to continually improve.**[See the continuous-improvement protocol →](/@protocol/retro)