> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nanny.run/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Install Nanny, configure limits, and run your first enforced process in under five minutes.

## Install

The Nanny CLI is a system tool — install it once and use `nanny run` from any project.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="macOS">
    ```bash theme={null}
    brew tap nanny-run/nanny
    brew install nannyd
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Linux">
    ```bash theme={null}
    curl -fsSL https://install.nanny.run | sh
    ```

    Have Rust installed? `cargo install nannyd` also works.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Windows">
    ```powershell theme={null}
    irm https://install.nanny.run/windows | iex
    ```

    Installs the binary to `%LOCALAPPDATA%\nanny\` and adds it to your PATH. Restart your terminal after installing.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

Verify the installation:

```bash theme={null}
nanny --version
```

For upgrade paths, uninstall, and troubleshooting on each platform, see [Installing Nanny](/v0.4/install).

The CLI is the enforcement engine. The SDK instruments your functions. You need both: `nanny run` owns the process lifecycle and enforces limits; `@tool`, `@rule`, and `@agent` report tool calls and activate named limit sets from inside your agent code.

## Initialise a config

Run this in the root of your project:

```bash theme={null}
nanny init
```

This writes a `nanny.toml` with safe defaults:

```toml theme={null}
[runtime]
mode = "local"

[start]
# How to launch your agent. nanny run reads this command.
cmd = "python agent.py"

[limits]
steps   = 100
tokens  = 1000
timeout = 30000
```

Set `[start].cmd` to your agent's entry point and edit the limit values to match your requirements.

## Run your agent

```bash theme={null}
nanny run
```

Nanny reads `[start].cmd` from `nanny.toml`, spawns the process, and kills it the moment any limit is crossed.

## Use named limits

Define limit sets for different workloads in the same `nanny.toml`:

```toml theme={null}
[limits]
steps   = 50
tokens  = 500
timeout = 15000

[limits.researcher]
steps   = 200
tokens  = 5000
timeout = 120000
```

Then activate a named set at runtime:

```bash theme={null}
nanny run --limits=researcher
```

Named sets inherit from `[limits]` and override only the fields you declare.

## Read the event log

Every run emits structured NDJSON to stdout:

```json theme={null}
{"event":"ExecutionStarted","ts":1711234567000,"limits":{"steps":100,"tokens":1000,"timeout":30000},"limits_set":"[limits]","command":"python agent.py"}
{"event":"ExecutionStopped","ts":1711234572000,"reason":"AgentCompleted","steps":7,"tokens_spent":70,"elapsed_ms":4823}
```

Pipe it to a file or your log aggregator:

```bash theme={null}
nanny run >> nanny.log
```

Or configure file output directly in `nanny.toml`:

```toml theme={null}
[observability]
log      = "file"
log_file = "nanny.log"
```