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Installation and Setup

Requirements

  • Node.js >= 18 (check with node --version)
  • An active Elestio account with a verified email, payment method, and API token
  • Git (required only for the Agent Skill installer)

Step 1 – Create an Elestio account (manual)

You need to do these steps yourself, manually, using a web browser. They cannot be done automatically or through the command line (CLI).

  1. Sign up at Dashboard
  2. Verify your email address
  3. Add a credit card at https://dash.elest.io/account/payment-options
  4. Wait for account approval (usually instant; can take up to 30 minutes  to 48 hours for new accounts)

Step 2 – Generate an API token

  1. Go to https://dash.elest.io/account/security
  2. Click Manage API Tokens → Create Token
  3. Copy the token value (it is shown only once)

Step 3 – Install the Elestio CLI

npm install -g elestio

Verify the installation:

elestio --version

Step 4 – Configure credentials

elestio login --email "you@example.com" --token "your_api_token"

Test that authentication works:

elestio auth test
# Expected: [SUCCESS] Authenticated as you@example.com

Step 5 – (Optional) Set a default project

Avoid passing --project on every command by setting a default:

# List your projects to find the ID
elestio projects

# Set the default
elestio config --set-default-project 112

Installing the Agent Skill

Automatic (recommended)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elestio/elestio-skill/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

The installer will:

  1. Detect which AI tools you have installed (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode)
  2. Install the Elestio CLI globally via npm
  3. Copy SKILL.md to each detected agent's skills directory

Via skills.sh

npx skills add elestio/elestio-skill

Manual installation

# 1. Install the CLI
npm install -g elestio

# 2. Clone the skill repo
git clone https://github.com/elestio/elestio-skill.git /tmp/elestio-skill

# 3. Copy SKILL.md to your agent
# Claude Code
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/elestio
cp /tmp/elestio-skill/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/elestio/

# Cursor
mkdir -p ~/.cursor/rules
cp /tmp/elestio-skill/SKILL.md ~/.cursor/rules/elestio.md

Update the skill

Re-run the installer at any time to get the latest version:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/elestio/elestio-skill/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Verify everything is working

# Authentication
elestio auth test

# List your projects
elestio projects

# Browse the template catalog (no auth required)
elestio templates search postgresql
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