Your First Project

1. Point kilter at your code

cd my-project
kilter up

kilter up auto-initializes: detects the framework, writes kilter.yaml, creates a KIND cluster named kilter-<project>, and starts Tilt. Your app appears at the port shown in the output (deterministic per project — check kilter env).

2. Add backing services

kilter catalog          # see what's available
kilter add postgres
kilter add typesense
kilter up               # cluster picks up the new services

Each service publishes connection strings (e.g. DATABASE_URL, TYPESENSE_URL) into your app container — and kilter env shows the localhost equivalents for tools running outside the cluster.

3. Iterate

Code changes sync into the running pod via Tilt live-update — no image rebuild for most edits. Watch it happen:

kilter logs             # tail everything
kilter status           # pod states

4. End of day

kilter stop             # free RAM; state preserved, resume with `kilter up`