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pipecat init initializes a new Pipecat app. It’s the starting point for building with Pipecat. It gives you a choice about how to scaffold your project:
  • Using a coding agent like Claude Code or Codex
  • Using an interactive wizard
However you scaffold, pipecat init writes the coding-agent files AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md so your coding agent works well with Pipecat. On the coding-agent path it also writes GETTING_STARTED.md, a developer guide for setting up the Pipecat Context Hub and prompting your agent. Usage: 
pipecat init [TARGET_DIR] [OPTIONS]
Arguments:
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TARGET_DIR
string
Directory to initialize. pipecat init my-bot targets ./my-bot; pipecat init . targets the current directory. With no argument, the CLI prompts for a directory. The special value quickstart (pipecat init quickstart) scaffolds the canned quickstart bot into ./pipecat-quickstart (see Quickstart Preset).
Options:
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--overwrite-guide
boolean
default:"false"
Overwrite existing AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and GETTING_STARTED.md files. By default existing guide files are kept, so your edits are never clobbered.

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Behavior

  • Existing guide files are kept. Re-running pipecat init never overwrites an existing AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, or GETTING_STARTED.md, so your edits are safe. If a guide was written by an older Pipecat version, an interactive run offers to refresh it on the spot; a non-interactive run prints how.
  • --overwrite-guide refreshes them, overwriting the existing guide files with the current templates (for example, after upgrading Pipecat).
  • GETTING_STARTED.md is written on the coding-agent path only, not when scaffolding a bot now or via pipecat init quickstart.

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Quickstart Preset

pipecat init quickstart
Scaffolds the canned quickstart bot (SmallWebRTC + Daily, Deepgram, OpenAI, Cartesia) into ./pipecat-quickstart and writes AGENTS.md + CLAUDE.md there (the generated README carries the Context Hub setup). It’s the fastest way to a running project that your coding agent can work with.

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Examples

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Prompt for a directory

pipecat init

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Initialize a specific directory

pipecat init my-bot

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Initialize the current directory

pipecat init .

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Refresh the guide files

pipecat init my-bot --overwrite-guide

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Scaffold the quickstart project

pipecat init quickstart

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Next Steps

If you chose the coding-agent path, open the project in your coding tool and let the agent take it from here. It reads AGENTS.md and scaffolds the app for you. If you chose to scaffold now, the wizard has already wired up a runnable bot alongside the guide.

Build Your Next Bot

The full flow: initialize a project, then build with a coding agent or scaffold a bot