# Getting Started

## Prerequisites

The asserted CLI requires at least Node v10. Check which version of Node you have installed with:

```bash
node -v
```

If you do not have Node installed, or have the wrong version, we recommend installing Node using one of the following:

* Mac / Linux - [nvm](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm)
* Windows - [nvm-windows](https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows)

## Installation

{% hint style="info" %}
GitHub: <https://github.com/assertedio/asrtd>

NPM: <https://www.npmjs.com/package/asrtd>
{% endhint %}

Use NPM to globally install the asserted CLI:

```
npm i -g asrtd
```

At any time you can run the following to get a full breakdown of all CLI commands:

```bash
asrtd --help
```

Login to the CLI with:

```bash
asrtd login
```

This will open a browser to [Token Management](https://app.asserted.io/tokens) so you can create a token and paste it into the interactive prompt. Tokens are associated with the user, not the project, and take on all of the abilities of that user.

## Initialize Routine

Usually routines are associated with a specific git repo or project. Move to the directory where you want to create the test files associated with a routine.

```bash
cd my-project-repo/
```

Run the following command to create a `.asserted` directory with all the necessary asserted dependencies and configuration:

```bash
astrd init
```

Inside `.asserted`, you'll find:

```bash
routine.json    ## Routine configuration with interval and mocha config
package.json    ## NPM package defining the (currently) fixed set of dependencies available during testing
examples/       ## Directory containing examples, can be modified or removed  
```

Your routine is now configured, but only contains examples. To get an idea of how everything works, lets push the current version with the examples.

```bash
asrtd push
```

This will push the current version of the code to [asserted.io](https://app.asserted.io) and you should start seeing results in the dashboard within a few seconds.

## Downtime Notifications

Once you have a routine running, you'll want to know if it detects any errors.

Go to the settings page of that routine within [asserted.io](https://app.asserted.io) to add a notification configuration.&#x20;

You can be notified by email or Slack webhook, or by phone if you have a paid plan or have purchased extra SMS.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Any routines that do not have notifications configured are disabled 48 hours they are created. You can re-enable them at any time.

You'll receive an email before this happens, but there is no point in running a routine continuously that doesn't have any way of notifying someone of downtime.
{% endhint %}

## Development

From here on out, it works mostly like writing any other Mocha test. The free plans only have a fixed set of dependencies, but the paid plans can include any dependencies you wish. Check out [Dependencies](https://docs.asserted.io/reference/included-dependencies) for more on that.

You can create whatever tests or files you'd like inside the `.asserted` directory and they'll be included in the next push.&#x20;

By default, Mocha will run any files with the `.asrtd.js` suffix as tests. Though this can be configured inside the `routine.json` file.

### Running Locally

To run tests locally, you can use:

```bash
asrtd run
```

The results will look something like:

![Local run result](https://594756571-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-M8DFhwh44DGXoIZuWQM%2F-M8DFxjtpkW-V7s3h9CN%2F-M8DPk_B1dzdFtQ5EOMt%2Flocal.png?alt=media\&token=6237040e-4abe-41ab-828d-993a5a37fdc7)

### Running Online

In the event that you have an issue that only seems to manifest when run online, you can use the following option to run the test inside [asserted.io](https://app.asserted.io):

```bash
asrtd run --online
```

{% hint style="info" %}
Online runs are rate-limited to prevent abuse, and should only be used to debug issues.
{% endhint %}