# What a starter kit is

> A starter kit is a set of files that briefs your coding agent to build one kind of project, with the parts, their versions and licenses, and a plan with checks.

Source: https://agentgid.com/docs/kits/ · Updated 2026-10-14

A starter kit is a small set of text files that tells your coding agent what to build, with which parts, in which order, and how to check each step. Your agent writes the code; the kit makes sure it starts from parts that fit together and that you are allowed to use.

It is not a boilerplate or a project template: there is no app inside, only the brief and the setup for your agent.

## What is in a kit

| File | What it does |
|---|---|
| `AGENTS.md` | The brief: what to build, the stack with exact versions, licenses, the plan with a check after every step, and known traps. |
| `first-prompt.txt` | The first message you paste into your agent. |
| `install.txt` | Install commands with exact versions. |
| `CREDITS.md` | The license record of every third-party file. |
| `.mcp.json` and others | The MCP servers for your agent (the file depends on which agent you pick). |
| `kit.json` | The whole kit as data: parts, versions, checks. |

[Use a kit](https://agentgid.com/docs/kits/use-a-kit/) explains each file and what to do with it.

## Parts, one for each job

A recipe splits a project into jobs: for a Telegram bot, say, the Telegram library, feed reading and scheduling. Each job gets one part from AgentGid's catalogs of [tools](https://agentgid.com/tools/), [APIs](https://agentgid.com/apis/) and [assets](https://agentgid.com/assets/), with the reason it was picked, its version and its license. Parts that do not pass your limits (commercial use, budget, credits) are left out, with the reason.

## Two kinds of kit

- **Tested kits** come from 8 recipes that a coding agent has built from start to finish before they were listed.
- **Draft kits** are made for any other idea when you press Create my own kit. Nobody has built them yet.

The difference matters for how much you check yourself: see [Tested kits and draft kits](https://agentgid.com/docs/kits/tested-vs-draft/).