Set up a coding agent

Install the CLI where the agent runs

The CLI must be on the PATH of the shell the agent uses. That shell is not always your own machine.

To check the installation, run:

deel --version

Provide a token

Create a personal access token, if not already created; see Quickstart for how. Scope it to only what the agent’s tasks require.

Use the pattern from Tokens for agents, CI, and scripts: the OS keychain on a developer machine, an injected secret in containers or CI.

deel auth login --env demo

export DEEL_TOKEN="$DEEL_PAT_SECRET"   # injected from your secret store

The agent runs deel commands; the CLI resolves the token, and the agent is not exposed to the token value.

Pin the environment

Agents explore by running commands. Keep them in the demo environment until a workflow is proven.

export DEEL_ENV=demo

When the workflow is ready for production, set DEEL_ENV=prod for that agent explicitly, or instruct the agent to pass --env prod on the commands that need it.

Add the instruction block

Agents follow project instruction files. Add the block below to the file your agent reads.

## Deel CLI
- Use the `deel` command to work with Deel. Run `deel --help` to list command groups.
- Before calling a command, run `deel <group> <action> [--variant] --help --json` and
  `deel <group> <action> [--variant] --generate-input` to learn the request body. Never
  guess field names or allowed values.
- Pass request bodies with `--input file://<path>` or inline JSON. Read results from stdout
  as JSON; errors are JSON on stderr with an `error.code` field.
- Stay in the demo environment (`--env demo`) unless told otherwise. `create` and
  `create-bulk` commands have real effects.
- Use `--fields` or `--jq` to keep output small. Bulk commands return a `job_id`; follow it
  with `deel job status <job_id>`.

Verify

Ask the agent to confirm its setup before giving it real work, using the same two checks from Quickstart:

• “Run deel auth status --fields valid,source and tell me the result.”
• “Describe the request body of deel adjustments create --invoice using its --help --json output.”