First run

Trust the working directory

Before Apollo initializes a provider, tool, or session in a new directory, it shows the canonical (realpath) directory and asks for a trust scope:

• Trust this folder only stores an exact-path rule.
• Trust parent folder tree stores a tree rule for the displayed parent.
• Trust folder and subdirectories stores a tree rule for the current folder.
• No, exit (or Esc) exits before runtime initialization.

Directory trust permits Apollo to start in that location. It does not approve file writes, commands, network access, or bypass the permission manager and sandbox.

Headless and JSON runs fail with directory_untrusted instead of waiting for input. Automation may explicitly trust only the canonical current folder with --trust-workspace.

Use apollo trust list (or --json) to inspect user-level rules. Revoke one canonical rule with apollo trust revoke <path>, or clear all rules with apollo trust revoke --all. Rules live in ~/.apollo/trusted-directories.json, never in the project repository.

Run apollo or apollo chat in a repository. With an interactive terminal and no prompt argument, Apollo starts the Ink TUI and shows a > input line. Before Apollo writes configuration, onboarding explains the local-only telemetry default and the detected Sandbox Tier.

1. Choose Anthropic as the provider.
2. Enter the API key only in Apollo's masked credential prompt. Never paste it into chat, shell history, logs, an issue, or a commit.
3. Apollo verifies the credential before storing it in the OS keychain or encrypted fallback store.
4. Review every requested write, command, and network permission. Deny requests you do not understand.

Use apollo doctor --strict before a real task. A degraded sandbox exits with code 3. --dangerously-no-sandbox requires an explicit risk confirmation and should not be used for release acceptance.

For local checks, apollo chat --no-tui forces the line-mode fallback, while apollo chat "prompt" --json emits NDJSON for automation and does not start the TUI.

First interactive screen

After directory trust is resolved, interactive apollo chat opens a terminal status screen before the first prompt. It reports the effective model, authentication availability, canonical workspace, trust scope, sandbox tier, permission mode, session, and context budget. Unknown runtime values are shown as unknown or not configured; Apollo never infers a successful security or auth state.

The command band accepts Enter to send and Shift+Enter for a newline. Empty input is ignored. --json and --no-tui remain machine/line-output modes and never render the welcome screen.