Quick Start

This guide walks you through creating your first town, connecting a repository, and watching agents work on real code.

Prerequisites

  • A Kilo account (free tier works)
  • A GitHub repository you want agents to work on
  • A GitHub Personal Access Token (recommended)

1. Create a Town

When you first visit Gas Town with no existing towns, you'll be taken directly into the new town onboarding flow. Give your town a name — this is just for your reference.

app.kilo.ai/gastown
Gas Town new town onboarding flow
The new town onboarding flow

2. Connect a Repository

Add a rig to your town. A rig is a connection to a specific repository.

  1. Click Add Rig
  2. Select your GitHub repository (or paste the URL)
  3. Choose the default branch (usually main)
  4. Click Connect

Gastown uses the Kilo GitHub App to access your repository. You'll be prompted to install it if you haven't already.

app.kilo.ai/gastown/town/rigs/new
Gas Town new rig creation flow
Adding a new rig — connect your repository

3. Add a GitHub Personal Access Token

💡Recommended

Adding a GitHub PAT means all commits, branches, and PRs created by your town's agents will appear as you — not a bot account. It also enables agents to use gh CLI commands (creating issues, commenting on PRs, etc.) on your behalf.

  1. Go to Town Settings → Git & Authentication
  2. Generate a fine-grained personal access token scoped to the repository your town is connected to
  3. Required permissions: Contents (read/write), Pull requests (read/write), Metadata (read)
  4. Optional: add Actions (read/write) if your repo uses GitHub Actions workflows
  5. Paste the token and save
ℹī¸Info

Use a fine-grained token scoped to only the repository your town works on. Since agents act autonomously on your behalf, limiting the token's scope reduces risk.

Without a PAT, agents use the GitHub App installation token — functional but shows up as a bot in your git history.

4. Sling Your First Task

Now let's give the agents something to do. The easiest way is to ask the Mayor:

"Add a CONTRIBUTING.md file with basic setup instructions"

Or use the Sling Work action in the town header to describe the task directly.

5. Watch Agents Work

The reconciler assigns your task to an available polecat agent. Head to the rig page to watch it in action:

  1. A bead appears in the kanban board's open column
  2. It moves to in_progress as a polecat picks it up
  3. The agent reads your code, makes changes, and pushes a branch
  4. The bead moves to in_review as the refinery checks the work
  5. The refinery merges (or creates a PR depending on your settings)
  6. The bead lands in the closed column
app.kilo.ai/gastown/town/rigs/main
Gas Town rig page with an active convoy and beads in progress
The rig page — convoy tracker and kanban board showing beads in various states

The whole cycle typically takes 2-10 minutes depending on complexity and the model you're using.

6. Talk to the Mayor

Click the Mayor chat to interact with your town's coordinator. Try:

  • "What's the status of the town?"
  • "Create a convoy to add unit tests for the auth module"
  • "What settings should I change for faster reviews?"

The Mayor is always running — it's your primary interface for managing the town conversationally.

app.kilo.ai/gastown/town
Gas Town overview with Mayor chat
The Mayor — your conversational interface to the town

What's Next?

  • Concepts — Understand the building blocks in depth
  • Sling Work — Learn about convoys and multi-step workflows
  • Settings — Configure models, merge strategies, and agent behavior