Die Kette by Get IT Done
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Setup. In your terminal.

One command and Claude Code knows your project rules: code, architecture, stack and platform. The same for you and every agent on the team.

Install

macOS and Linux
curl -fsSL https://kette.itdone.de/install | sh
Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://kette.itdone.de/install.ps1 | iex

View the script: install.sh · install.ps1

  • RequirementsNode 20 or newer and git.
  • PATHThe installer adds ~/.kette/bin to ~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc or ~/.profile, on Windows to the user PATH. If kette is not found, open a new terminal; otherwise kette doctor shows what is missing.
  • NextNew project: kette init my-project. Existing repo: kette add. The CLI currently prints its messages in German.
Install without PATH entry

By default the installer appends the comment # kette and below it export PATH="$HOME/.kette/bin:$PATH" (zsh: ~/.zshrc, bash: ~/.bashrc, otherwise ~/.profile). With KETTE_NO_MODIFY_PATH=1 shell files and the user PATH stay unchanged; you then add ~/.kette/bin to your PATH yourself.

macOS and Linux, without PATH entry
curl -fsSL https://kette.itdone.de/install | KETTE_NO_MODIFY_PATH=1 sh
Windows (PowerShell), without PATH entry
$env:KETTE_NO_MODIFY_PATH=1; irm https://kette.itdone.de/install.ps1 | iex

Why the CLI

  1. Rules from the first prompt

    The agents read the project profile and build by the same rules. You stop re-explaining in every prompt how you work.

  2. One state for the whole team

    Profile and rules live in the repo, updates arrive with kette update. Every machine and every agent uses the same version.

  3. Scaffolding instead of manual work

    With Enterprise, the edition included in Die Kette, kette init sets up CI, Docker, checks and the code-reviewer in one step.

Commands

Commands of the kette CLI
CommandPurpose
kette init <name>Creates a new project with a project profile and the rulebook.
kette addAdds the rulebook and profile to an existing repo.
kette doctorChecks installation and project and reports what is missing.
kette doctor --ciThe same check for pipelines, without Claude Code. It exits with an error code if anything is open.
kette updateDownloads the latest version of the rulebook.
kette login <key>Unlocks Enterprise with your licence key.
kette logoutRemoves the licence key and the Enterprise package from this machine.

Enterprise keys are available from the sales start on 1 Nov 2026.

Editions

Community and Enterprise compared
ContentCommunityEnterprise (Die Kette)
Price and licenceFree, MITIncluded in every licence, Solo and Team, no extra price (offers)
Installer and CLI✓yes✓yes
Code rules with Do and Don't✓yes✓yes
Architecture patterns with “fits when” and “does not fit when”✓yes✓yes
ADR template✓yes✓yes
Project profile .kette/profile.json✓yes✓yes
Claude Code plugin kette-engineering-core✓yes✓yes
Stack profiles: Next.js, NestJS with Prisma or Mongoose, FastAPI, Expo×no✓yes
Platform profiles with templates for CI, Docker, deploy with approval and rollback×no✓yes
Machine checks: strict TypeScript, ESLint, module boundaries, secrets scan×no✓yes
code-reviewer: checks code against the rules, routes findings to the responsible role×no✓yes

Community: Free, MIT. Enterprise (Die Kette): Included in every licence, Solo and Team, no extra price (offers).

Included in both

  • Installer and CLI
  • Code rules with Do and Don't
  • Architecture patterns with “fits when” and “does not fit when”
  • ADR template
  • Project profile .kette/profile.json
  • Claude Code plugin kette-engineering-core

Enterprise only

  • Stack profiles: Next.js, NestJS with Prisma or Mongoose, FastAPI, Expo
  • Platform profiles with templates for CI, Docker, deploy with approval and rollback
  • Machine checks: strict TypeScript, ESLint, module boundaries, secrets scan
  • code-reviewer: checks code against the rules, routes findings to the responsible role

Not to be confused: the 132 UX/UI rules with 52 do/don't pairs come with the paid packages Design review pack, Agent pack and Die Kette (offers and prices), not with Community. Community contains rules for code. With Die Kette you get both: the UX/UI rules and Enterprise.

The code rules cover: readability, structure (KISS, DRY, YAGNI, SOLID), errors, tests, security, dependencies, logging, changes. The architecture patterns: modular monolith, layers, ports and adapters, event‑driven with outbox, CQRS, backend for frontend, multi-tenancy.

Proven with GitHub and Docker on your own server, on a reference project with green CI, images, browser test and design, UX and code review. More platforms to follow.

What the installer does and does not do

Does

  • Verifies every download by SHA‑256.
  • Runs without sudo.
  • Creates ~/.kette. On a reinstall it only replaces ~/.kette/cli/<version>.
  • Appends the comment # kette and below it the PATH line to your shell startup file, on Windows it adds to the user PATH. Turn off with KETTE_NO_MODIFY_PATH=1.

Does not

  • Takes no cloud actions.
  • Deploys nothing. Apply and deploy stay a human step.
  • Changes nothing in your projects. Only kette init or kette add do that.

What the CLI creates in your project

Creates

  • The project profile .kette/profile.json and .kette/README.md pointing to the rules.
  • One reference line in CLAUDE.md. If the file exists, the line is only appended.
  • With Enterprise: infrastructure as code, such as CI and deploy workflows, Dockerfiles and compose.yaml, plus the configuration of the machine checks.
  • Existing project files are never overwritten. --dry-run shows beforehand what will be created.

Does not create

  • No cloud resources.
  • No business logic, backend, APIs or databases. Those stay in your project.

For companies

For restricted networks and your own standards.

  • Own mirror

    Set KETTE_MIRROR to the address of your mirror. The installer then downloads from there and still verifies every file by SHA‑256.

  • Offline package

    For environments without internet access there is an offline package. Write to us and we will send it.

  • Your own rules

    You add your own rules as an overlay in .kette/profile.json. The agents load them from there and give them precedence over the rules of Die Kette. The rulebook itself stays unchanged.

Example: own mirror at spiegel.example (placeholder)
curl -fsSL https://spiegel.example/kette/install.sh | KETTE_MIRROR=https://spiegel.example/kette sh

Uninstall

  • macOS and Linux. Run rm -rf ~/.kette and delete the comment # kette together with the PATH line below it from your shell startup file.
  • Windows. Delete the .kette folder in your user folder and remove the .kette\bin entry from the PATH of your user account.
  • Projects. .kette/ and the reference line in CLAUDE.md stay in the repo until you delete them yourself.

Remove the Claude Code plugins with three commands:

Remove the Claude Code plugins
claude plugin uninstall kette-engineering@kette-engineeringclaude plugin uninstall kette-engineering-core@kette-engineeringclaude plugin marketplace remove kette-engineering

Help

Questions, bugs or a wish for your setup? Write to info@itdone.de. Run kette doctor first and attach the output.

The CLI is open source under MIT: github.com/getitdone-gmbh/kette-cli.

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