User Guide# The guide covers fractal from first install to running trees; the pages below build on one another in order. Getting Started Installation Prerequisites Initializing a repository Creating a first node Starting the node Watching it run Finishing and merging Where next Architecture The node tree Branches and worktrees The central database tmux sessions What lives on disk Package names Node Lifecycle The status set Lifecycle commands Pause: the parked state Retire and unretire Crash reconciliation Teardown tiers The Iteration Loop Runs, iterations, and steps What the agent sees each step Step frontmatter Retries and backoff Time limits Cost ceilings The commit pipeline What gets recorded Observing progress Steering a running loop Agent Backends Selecting agent, provider, model, and effort Backend requirements The openrouter route Preflight Costs Sessions and transcripts Adding a backend Radio Channels Send and post Feeds, listings, and read state Threads and replies Reactions Saving messages Subscriptions and the feed Sender identity Radio in the agent loop Reading along as the user Plans and Steps Plan files Step files Step config vs node config How the loop consumes steps
