After installing Spout following the workspace setup in the introduction, there are a few key steps to get running:

Settings Configuration

The spout/config/settings.ini file contains important configurations, and can be changed directly or by opening the settings GUI with Capslock + `

API Key Setup

At least one API key is required to use Spout.

• OpenAI API: Get key from OpenAI Platform
• Anthropic API: Get key from Anthropic Console
• Google API: Get key from Google Gemini AI
• DeepSeek API: Get key from DeepSeek Platform
• Replicate API: Get key from Replicate Dashboard

The settings GUI provides a simple interface to add and manage your API keys:

General Settings

• Theme: UI theme (options: Nova, Dark, Light, etc.)
• BrowserLocation: Path to preferred browser
• NotesFolder: Directory for saved outputs
• PreferredModel: Default AI model
• TokenCountModel: Model for token counting utility
• SoundEffects: Enable/disable sound (0/1)
• LastX/LastY: Window position (auto-managed)

Module Preferences

Each module can have a preferred plugin (spoutlet):

[ModuleName]
preferredspoutlet=default

The selected default spoutlet will be used by default in the gui functions, cli tools, etc.

Model Activation

Models can be activated or deactivated in spout/config/models.ini. Each provider section contains models with a binary activation status:

[ProviderName]
model-name=1  # Activated
other-model=0 # Deactivated

Active models (value=1) will be available for selection in the interface and API calls. Deactivate models you don't plan to use by setting their value to 0. This helps simplify the model selection interface and is useful for testing specific combinations of models.

Basic Operations

Using the CLI

# Basic text processing
spout enhance "wassup"

# Specify plugin
spout reduce -u namer "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?"

# Chain operations
spout translate -s "spanish" "$(spout expand "hello")"

Example Console Common Hotkeys

• Caplock + Shift: Toggle Caplock (normal capslock key function)
• Capslock + ` : Spout Settings
• Capslock + Tab: Clipboard Manager
• Capslock + Space: Context Menu
• Capslock + Esc: Restart Spout Script

For more hotkey functions, visit the console page.

Next Steps

• Explore the spout/core/ modules with hotkeys Capslock + 1 through Capslock + =
• Create custom spoutlets in spout/{module}_local/, by copying default and making modifications. Experiment with different prompts and configurations.
• checkout the scripting and testing sections for more ideas.