# SDK client

The Kestrel client holds your key, your defaults and its retry rules. Make one per process and share it.

## Create a client

```ts TypeScript
import { Kestrel } from "@kestrel/sdk";

const kestrel = new Kestrel({
  defaultRepo: "acme/web-app",
  timeoutMs: 60_000,
  maxRetries: 4,
});
```

```python Python
from kestrel import Kestrel

kestrel = Kestrel(
    default_repo="acme/web-app",
    timeout_ms=60_000,
    max_retries=4,
)
```

## Options

| Option | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| `apiKey` | `KESTREL_API_KEY` | The key every request carries |
| `defaultRepo` | none | Used when a call leaves out `repo` |
| `baseUrl` | `https://api.kestrel.dev/v1` | Point at your own Kestrel inside your VPC |
| `timeoutMs` | `60000` | How long one HTTP request may take, not a whole run |
| `maxRetries` | `4` | Retries on network errors and `5xx`, with backoff. See [Retries](/runs/retries) |

## What the client gives you

- `kestrel.runs`: start, list, watch and cancel runs.
- `kestrel.sandboxes`: make sandboxes yourself, outside a run.
- `kestrel.memory`: read and edit what agents have learned about a repo.

Every method returns plain objects you can log or store. Long waits, like `run.wait()`, poll for you and stop when the run ends.

> [!NOTE]
> The client is safe to share across requests in a server. Making one per request works, but it throws away the connection pool.