Getting Started

To set up CheatMD for the first time, run the init command:

cheatmd init

This command performs a quick onboarding flow:

1. Creates a config file at ~/.config/cheatmd/cheatmd.yaml from a documented template.
2. Installs starter cheats — it fetches the cheat-pack registry and shows a checklist of packs to install into ~/.local/share/cheatmd/cheats (or $XDG_DATA_HOME/cheatmd/cheats).

Install starter cheats from the registry? [Y/n]

Answering Y opens the pack picker:

• ↑ / ↓ — move
• space — toggle a pack
• a / n — select all / none
• enter — install selected packs
• q / esc — cancel

Starter packs are pre-checked. Once the setup is complete, you can run cheatmd to start exploring your newly installed cheats.

The registry

The registry is a YAML manifest listing installable cheat packs. CheatMD reads it from registry_url (default: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cheatmd-dev/registry/main/registry.yaml).

registry_url: "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cheatmd-dev/registry/main/registry.yaml"

Point this at your own registry.yaml to offer private or team-specific cheat packs during setup. Each pack entry names a repository; CheatMD shallow-clones it (falling back to a tarball download when git isn’t installed) and copies its .md cheats into <cheats-dir>/<pack-name>/.

See the registry README for the full manifest schema and how to submit a pack.

Installing packs any time

The first-run prompt is just a convenience. You can browse and install packs whenever you like with the packs command — it works regardless of whether the prompt has run:

cheatmd packs list                 # show available packs (and which are installed)
cheatmd packs install              # interactive picker
cheatmd packs install git docker   # install specific packs by name
cheatmd packs update docker        # update specific packs
cheatmd packs remove git           # remove specific packs

Packs install into <cheats-dir>/<pack-name>/.

See also

• [[Configuration]] - cheatmd.yaml reference
• [[Headless Mode]] - programmatic use without interactive prompts
• [[Writing Cheats]] - creating your own cheats