---
title: Quickstart
description: Drop the skill into your agent, put the CLI on the machine, create an account from the terminal, then make a link.
sidebar:
  label: Quickstart
  order: 1
---

Four commands. After that the next command is the link you actually needed.

1. **Add the skill**

    Teach Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex how Linkdash works.

    ```bash
    npx skills add https://linkdash.dev/skills/linkdash/SKILL.md
    ```

    Details: [Agent skill](/skill).

2. **Put the CLI on the machine**

    One binary on any machine with Node.

    **npm**

    ```bash
    npm i -g linkdash-cli
    ```

    **pnpm**

    ```bash
    pnpm add -g linkdash-cli
    ```

    **bun**

    ```bash
    bun add -g linkdash-cli
    ```

    **npx**

    ```bash
    npx linkdash-cli@latest
    ```

3. **Create an account from the terminal**

    Opens sign-up, then you approve this terminal on `/device`. Already signed up? Use `linkdash auth login` instead.

    ```bash
    linkdash auth create
    ```

4. **Create a link**

    A URL, a file, or a snippet. Live before the command returns.

    ```bash
    linkdash links create --url https://example.com
    ```

    Successful commands print JSON on stdout. Help and errors are plain text. There is no `--json` flag. Create takes **exactly one** of `--url`, `--file`, or `--text`.

## Other first links

```bash
linkdash links create --file ./deck.pdf --expires 7d
linkdash links create --text "release checklist" --tag launch
```

Then [read it back](/cli#stats), [call the HTTP API](/api), [connect MCP](/mcp), or open the [dashboard](https://linkdash.dev/dashboard).