Set up Ivy with your coding agent
Ivy's setup is written for coding agents. One prompt points your agent to https://ivytrace.dev/llms.txt, and the agent does the rest through Ivy's HTTP API, asking you to approve two things in your browser.
The prompt
Set up Ivy for my AWS Lambda functions using https://ivytrace.dev/llms.txt
Any agent that can fetch a URL and make HTTP requests works: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Windsurf and others. Run it in the repository that deploys your functions, so the agent can check your infrastructure code.
What the agent does
- Signs you in. It registers itself with Ivy's sign-in service and starts an OAuth device flow with your email address. You open the link, check the code, sign in (or create an account) and click Allow access. The agent never sees a password.
- Picks a workspace. New users get a personal workspace. If you have several, it asks which one.
- Picks or creates a project. Projects are named after the app or stack, one per environment (
checkout-prod,checkout-staging). - Connects your AWS account. It asks for the account ID and regions, then gives you a CloudFormation quick-create link. You open it in the AWS console, tick the IAM acknowledgement and click Create stack. The stack creates a role that Ivy assumes with an external ID, and an EventBridge rule that tells Ivy about function changes. No access keys change hands, and nothing is traced yet.
- Chooses functions with you. It lists your functions grouped by CloudFormation stack, asks what to trace, shows a dry run of the rule, and creates it when you confirm. Ivy attaches the layer within seconds.
- Checks your infrastructure code. If CDK, SST, the Serverless Framework, SAM, Terraform or Pulumi sets your functions' layers or environment, the next deploy could remove Ivy's layer. The agent offers to add the layer and variables to your code instead (manual setup).
- Verifies the first trace. With your permission it invokes a function (or asks you to), waits for the trace, and gives you a link and a one-line summary.
- Offers the extras. The Ivy skill for your repo, a two-line pointer in
AGENTS.md, and the MCP server in.mcp.json. It commits nothing without asking.
Rules the agent follows
llms.txt tells agents to never ask for passwords or AWS keys, to send Ivy tokens only to https://ivytrace.dev/api, to ask before invoking functions or changing infrastructure code, and to stop and show you the error if a step fails.
Doing it in the dashboard instead
Everything the agent does is also in the dashboard: sign in at ivytrace.dev, and the quick-start wizard walks you through the workspace, project, AWS connection and first trace.
Self-hosted
If you run Ivy yourself, tell the agent your URL; llms.txt explains which steps change. See self-hosting.