Baseten

View saved version →

---
name: onboard-baseten
description: Install, upgrade, detect, and authenticate the Baseten CLI on a local Codex Desktop host, then install Baseten's official skill globally. Use when the Baseten CLI is missing, `baseten` is not on PATH, a Baseten profile or credential is not configured, authentication fails, the global Baseten skill is missing, or the user asks to set up Baseten before model API, deployment, or monitoring work.
---

# Baseten Setup

Prepare the current local Codex Desktop host for general Baseten work. Keep credential entry in Baseten's browser flow, make no deployment during onboarding, and hand workload-specific work to Baseten's globally installed official skill.

## Check existing tools

Detect whether the host shell is POSIX-compatible or PowerShell, then use the matching commands throughout this skill.

On a POSIX-compatible shell, run:

```bash
command -v brew || true
command -v npx || true
if command -v baseten >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  baseten version
fi
```

On PowerShell, run:

```powershell
Get-Command npx -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$basetenCommand = Get-Command baseten -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($null -ne $basetenCommand) {
    baseten version
}
```

Preserve an existing Baseten CLI installation when `baseten version` succeeds. If the user explicitly asks for an upgrade and the CLI was installed with Homebrew, explain that it changes the host, obtain any approval required by the execution environment, run `brew update && brew upgrade baseten`, and verify the version again.

The Baseten CLI is in beta and under active development; commands and flags may change. If a documented command fails unexpectedly, fetch the current CLI reference at `https://docs.baseten.co/reference/cli/baseten/overview` rather than guessing.

Baseten's documented installation on macOS and Linux uses Homebrew. If `brew` is unavailable on those platforms, explain that prerequisite and stop before changing the host; offer the documented manual binary install from Baseten's GitHub releases only when the user explicitly chooses it. On Windows, the manual binary install is the documented path (see the next section). Installing Baseten's official skill requires Node.js and `npx`. If `npx` is unavailable, finish any valid Baseten CLI checks, report the missing prerequisite, and stop before skill installation.

## Install the Baseten CLI

Only reach this section when `baseten version` failed. Explain that this step installs the Baseten CLI and obtain any approval required by the execution environment.

On macOS or Linux with Homebrew, run:

```bash
brew tap basetenlabs/baseten
brew install baseten
```

On Windows, or when the user explicitly chooses a manual install, download the `baseten` archive for the host platform from `https://github.com/basetenlabs/baseten-cli/releases`, extract the binary, and place it on `PATH`. Do not pipe release archives through `sudo` without showing the user the exact command first.

Then run `baseten version`. If the command remains unavailable, explain that the install directory is not on `PATH`. Do not edit shell startup files unless the user asks.

## Install the official Baseten skill

First check whether the skill is already installed:

```bash
npx skills list -g -a codex
```

If the result includes the `baseten` skill, preserve the existing installation and skip the install command; do not reinstall or overwrite a version the user may have pinned. If the user explicitly asks to update the skill, explain that it refreshes the global copy from the source repository, obtain any approval required by the execution environment, run `npx skills update baseten -g -y`, and verify with `npx skills list -g -a codex` again.

Only when the `baseten` skill is absent: explain that this step downloads Baseten's current official skill from its source repository, `basetenlabs/baseten-skills` on GitHub, and writes it to the user's global Codex skill directory. Obtain any approval required by the executi

Preview of the first 4,000 characters. Read full instructions →

Referenced files: 1 — file references are metadata, not package contents.