Getting Started
The path from nothing to a running API. Each step is a command you can run.
If you just want to see how the model-driven part behaves without standing anything up, the Quickstart runs entirely locally and takes a few minutes.
1. Get access
Section titled “1. Get access”kis.ai runs on your infrastructure, so you need a licence before you can install it. Talk to the solutions team to get one, then follow Install to set up KVM and the CLI.
2. Install the CLI
Section titled “2. Install the CLI”Everything below goes through kis, installed via KVM — see Install for the
full flow. Confirm it is present:
kis versionkis --help lists what you actually have; the command list is assembled from the bundles
installed on your machine, and commands you are entitled to but have not installed are listed
separately with the bundle that provides them.
3. Authenticate
Section titled “3. Authenticate”kis loginThis obtains a token for your tenant. Most commands need it: the platform is multi-tenant and every request carries tenant identity.
4. Understand the product model
Section titled “4. Understand the product model”A product is the unit you build and deploy — its blocks, entities, configuration and code.
kis info productsMeta holds what a product is made of; Config holds its settings and service discovery. Those two come up before anything else is meaningful.
5. Define an entity
Section titled “5. Define an entity”This is where the model-driven part starts paying off. Declare an entity in YAML and the Data API serves REST and GraphQL over it — no endpoint code to write.
kis spec validate # check YAML against the schemakis spec lint # style and consistencyInstall the IDE language server first if you have not. It validates the
same schemas as you type, which is a far shorter feedback loop than running spec validate
after the fact.
6. Add the blocks you need
Section titled “6. Add the blocks you need”Configure blocks in YAML rather than writing services:
| Need | Block |
|---|---|
| Login, roles, tokens | IAM |
| Entities, REST, GraphQL | Data API |
| Secrets and certificates | Vault |
| Model access with budgets | AI Gateway |
| Search and RAG | AI Knowledge |
| Multi-step work | AI Flow |
| Background jobs | Jobs |
| Email, SMS, push | Notifications |
Start with the smallest set that makes your first screen work. Blocks compose, so adding one later is configuration rather than migration.
7. Test it
Section titled “7. Test it”kis test -t tests/Test definitions are YAML that lives alongside your code. See Testing for the definition format, and Code Quality to scan the source before you ship it.
8. Run it
Section titled “8. Run it”kis info services # what is deployed, and its stateSupervisor keeps declared services in their desired state on a node, Observability collects the telemetry, and Automate runs the pipeline that gets you there.
- CLI Introduction — the command surface in full
- Blocks — everything available to build with