Getting started
Cryonic runs on Windows. This page covers the first steps: install, add an agent, set rules and set limits.
Cryonic is on a waitlist. The steps below describe the app and its cryonic command-line tool. Command examples use sample names.
1. Install
Cryonic is a Windows program. It runs a per-user background service, so agents keep working with the window closed, and keeps its data in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Cryonic.
Install the Claude Code or Codex command-line tool you want to use, and sign in to it yourself. Cryonic never reads or stores provider login files.
cryonic daemon start
cryonic service install # start at sign-in2. Add an agent
An agent is a provider, a working folder and a model. Pick a folder you are happy for the agent to change.
cryonic agent add dev --provider claude --folder D:\work\dev --model haiku
# API key instead of a subscription:
echo sk-... | cryonic secret set --kind anthropic
cryonic agent set dev auth=api_keyAgents run as your Windows user. Read what the safety model does not stop before you give an agent a folder that matters.
3. Set rules
Each agent has an Allow, Ask or Block rule for each class of action, such as read_files, edit_files and run_commands. Test a decision before you rely on it. The test makes no model call.
cryonic rule set dev run_commands ask
cryonic rule set dev read_files allow
cryonic rule test dev "git push --force"A rule on one command cannot see inside a script the agent writes. For a hard stop, set run_commands to Ask.
4. Set limits
Limits stop work before a window runs out. Defaults: 7-day 80%, 5-hour 90% and Codex weekly 80%. When a threshold is crossed, Cryonic stops the active runs on that provider and refuses new ones until the reading falls or the window resets. Auto-resume at reset is a setting, off by default. You can also cap each agent by cost, tokens and turns.
cryonic limits
cryonic limits --refresh # asks Codex for its limits, no model use