ftl init

Initialize FTL in the current project by creating a .ftlconfig file with default settings

Overview

The ftl init command creates a .ftlconfig file in the current directory, initializing FTL for your project. This file stores project-specific configuration and must exist before you can run coding tasks.

Usage

ftl init

Behavior

When you run ftl init:

• Creates a .ftlconfig file in the current directory with default settings
• If .ftlconfig already exists, prints a message and exits without making changes
• The config file is required for running ftl code and other commands

Example

$ cd my-project
$ ftl init
Created /home/user/my-project/.ftlconfig

If you run it again in the same directory:

$ ftl init
.ftlconfig already exists.

What Gets Created

The .ftlconfig file contains project-specific settings that control:

• Which AI agent to use (inherited from global config)
• Which tester model to use for test generation
• Snapshot backend configuration (local or S3)
• AWS integration settings (optional)

Global vs Project Config

FTL uses a two-level configuration system:

• Global config (~/.ftl/config.json) - Set by ftl setup, stores agent and tester defaults
• Project config (.ftlconfig) - Created by ftl init, can override global settings

Project settings take precedence over global settings.

Next Steps

After running ftl init:

1. Run ftl code "your task" to start a coding session
2. Optionally run ftl config --aws to enable AWS features

Required Before

Before running ftl init, you should:

1. Run ftl setup to configure your agent and API credentials
2. Navigate to your project directory

See Also

• ftl setup - Initial FTL setup wizard
• ftl code - Run a coding task
• ftl config - Configure AWS integration