EVE Getting Started Handbook

EVE is a multi-provider AI coding assistant that integrates with:

EVE provides powerful tools for:

• Reading and analyzing code files
• Editing code with precision
• Executing terminal commands safely
• Searching codebases with pattern matching
• Making API calls to external services

Before installing EVE, ensure you have the following:

Required Software

• Go 1.24.2 or later - The core runtime for EVE
• Git - For cloning the repository
• At least one AI provider API key (see Configuration section)

Optional but Recommended

• devenv - For reproducible development environment (highly recommended)
• ripgrep - For advanced code searching capabilities

System Requirements

Choose one of the following installation methods based on your preference:

# On macOS (using Homebrew)
brew install devenv

# On Linux
curl -fsSL https://devenv.sh/install | bash

# On Windows (using Chocolatey)
choco install devenv

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Artifact-Virtual/EVE.git
cd EVE

# Enter the development environment
devenv shell

go version
# Should show: go version go1.24.2 or later

git clone https://github.com/Artifact-Virtual/EVE.git
cd EVE

# Download and install Go modules
go mod tidy

# Verify dependencies
go mod verify

# Install ripgrep for advanced code search
# On Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt-get install ripgrep

# On macOS:
brew install ripgrep

# On Windows:
winget install BurntSushi.ripgrep.MSVC

EVE requires configuration through environment variables. You need at least one AI provider API key.

Step 1: Choose Your AI Provider

EVE supports three AI providers. Choose based on your needs:

Step 2: Get API Keys

Step 3: Set Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the EVE directory or set environment variables directly:

# Choose your provider (anthropic, gemini, or openai)
export LLM_PROVIDER="anthropic"

# Set your API key (replace with your actual key)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-anthropic-key-here"
export GEMINI_API_KEY="your-gemini-key-here"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-openai-key-here"

# Optional: Specify model (defaults will be used if not set)
export LLM_MODEL="claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022"  # For Anthropic
# export LLM_MODEL="gemini-pro"                 # For Gemini
# export LLM_MODEL="gpt-4"                      # For OpenAI

Step 4: Verify Configuration

Test your configuration:

# Check if variables are set
echo $LLM_PROVIDER
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY  # (or your chosen provider's key)

# Should show your configured values

Once configured, build EVE using the provided Makefile:

Build All Components

# Build all EVE binaries
make build

# Or build everything with formatting and checks
make all

This will create several executable files:

• agent - Full-featured multi-provider agent
• chat - Basic chat interface
• read - File reading capabilities
• list_files - Directory exploration
• bash_tool - Terminal command execution
• edit_tool - File editing capabilities

Individual Build Commands

# Build specific components
go build -o agent agent.go
go build -o chat chat.go
go build -o read read.go
go build -o list_files list_files.go
go build -o bash_tool bash_tool.go
go build -o edit_tool edit_tool.go

Verify Build

# Check if binaries were created
ls -la agent chat read list_files bash_tool edit_tool

# Should show executable files (green on Linux/macOS)

Now you're ready to run EVE! Start with the basic chat interface to get familiar.

Basic Chat Interface

# Start the basic chat interface
./chat

# Or using go run
go run chat.go

You should see:

🌸 EVE - AI Coding Assistant 🌸
Provider: anthropic
Model: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022

You: [Your message here]

Full-Featured Agent

For the complete EVE experience with all tools:

# Run the full agent
./agent

# Or using go run
go run agent.go

Individual Tools

Test specific capabilities:

# File reading and analysis
./read

# Directory exploration
./list_files

# Terminal command execution
./bash_tool

# File editing
./edit_tool

Common Issues and Solutions

# Check if environment variable is set
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

# If empty, set it again
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key-here"

# Check valid options
export LLM_PROVIDER="anthropic"  # Options: anthropic, gemini, openai

# Build the binaries
make build

# Run with full path
./agent

# Check current version
go version

# Update Go to 1.24.2+ from https://golang.org/dl/

# Check internet connection
ping google.com

# If behind proxy, set proxy environment variables
export HTTP_PROXY="http://proxy.company.com:8080"
export HTTPS_PROXY="http://proxy.company.com:8080"

# Make binaries executable
chmod +x agent chat read list_files bash_tool edit_tool

Getting Help

If you encounter issues not covered here:

• Check the logs - EVE provides detailed logging
• Verify your setup - Run make check to validate your installation
• Test with simple commands - Start with basic chat before full agent
• Check API key validity - Ensure your API keys are active and have credits

Now that you have EVE running, here are some recommended next steps: