> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://dev.chief.bot/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tools overview

> Use Chief from Go, the command line, or any MCP client.

Chief ships first-party tools on top of the [REST API](/api-reference/introduction)
and [MCP server](/mcp/overview): a command-line client and a Go SDK. All of them
authenticate with a Personal Access Token (`pat_…`) and scope to a project, the same as
direct API calls.

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Go SDK" icon="golang" href="/tools/go-sdk">
    Typed Go client with one service per resource. Zero third-party
    dependencies.
  </Card>

  <Card title="CLI" icon="terminal" href="/tools/cli/overview">
    The `chief` command — styled output at a prompt, JSON in scripts and CI.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MCP server" icon="robot" href="/mcp/overview">
    Point Claude, Cursor, or Codex at your Chief project over MCP.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Which one to use

| You want to…                                         | Use                                                  |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| Get answers or build without writing code            | Your [AI coding agent over MCP](/ai-native)          |
| Build a Go service or automation                     | [Go SDK](/tools/go-sdk)                              |
| Script Chief, run it in CI, or drive it from a shell | [CLI](/tools/cli/overview)                           |
| Give a coding agent access to your project           | [MCP server](/mcp/overview)                          |
| Call from another language                           | The [REST API](/api-reference/introduction) directly |

## Before you start

You need a Chief account and two credentials, used by all three tools:

1. A **Personal Access Token** (`pat_…`) — create one in the Chief app under
   [**Settings → API tokens**](https://chief.bot/settings/tokens).
2. Your **project id** (`project_…`) — the project the tool reads from and writes
   to.

See [Introduction](/api-reference/introduction) for where to find both.

## Install

The CLI and MCP server are distributed as single static binaries.
[Homebrew](https://brew.sh) is the recommended install on macOS:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash Homebrew theme={null}
  brew install --cask Storytell-ai/tap/chief
  brew install --cask Storytell-ai/tap/chief-mcp
  ```

  ```bash Go theme={null}
  go install github.com/Storytell-ai/chief-cli/cmd/chief@latest
  go install github.com/Storytell-ai/chief-mcp@latest
  ```
</CodeGroup>

The Go SDK is a library — add it to a module with `go get`:

```bash theme={null}
go get github.com/Storytell-ai/chief-go/chief
```

The `go` options above require a [Go toolchain](https://go.dev/doc/install).

## Shared configuration

Every tool reads the same three settings from flags, options, or the
environment:

| Setting  | Environment variable | Notes                                                           |
| -------- | -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| API key  | `CHIEF_API_KEY`      | Personal Access Token (`pat_…`), sent as `X-API-Key`. Required. |
| Project  | `CHIEF_PROJECT_ID`   | Sent as `X-Project-Id`. Required for project-scoped resources.  |
| Base URL | `CHIEF_BASE_URL`     | Defaults to `https://api.storytell.ai`.                         |

See [Introduction](/api-reference/introduction) for how to create a token.