Install
Where to install Appstrate, how to drive it, and how to do both from two different machines.
Install an instance
curl -fsSL https://get.appstrate.dev | bashInstalls Appstrate on any machine (laptop, VPS, bare metal) without requiring Bun on the host. Downloads the signed CLI binary, drops it on PATH, then runs appstrate install --yes which auto-detects Docker:
- Docker present → Tier 3 (PostgreSQL + Redis + MinIO + S3)
- Docker absent → Tier 0 (PGlite + filesystem, zero-install)
Pass -s -- --tier N to force a specific tier (e.g. bash -s -- --tier 1). Works on macOS and Linux. On Windows, run inside WSL2.
Tier table:
| Tier | Runtime | Services | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Bun | None (PGlite in-process) | Filesystem |
| 1 | Docker | PostgreSQL | Filesystem |
| 2 | Docker | PostgreSQL + Redis | Filesystem |
| 3 | Docker | PostgreSQL + Redis + MinIO | S3 |
See Progressive Infrastructure for tier trade-offs.
bun install -g appstrate # 1. CLI on your PATH
appstrate install # 2. bootstrap the instance (interactive)Two-step alternative when you already have Bun and want the interactive tier prompt instead of the Docker-aware default. Step 1 installs the CLI on your PATH; step 2 bootstraps the instance. Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
For a manual Docker Compose setup (CI, Kubernetes prep, custom orchestration), see Self-Hosting / Docker Compose. You edit the compose file and the generated .env yourself; no installer is invoked.
In all cases, the installer writes a generated .env with cryptographic secrets and opens http://<host>:3000 once the healthcheck passes (up to 120s on Docker tiers).
Drive your instance
Once the instance is up, two independent ways to drive it. Both work whether the instance is on your laptop or on a remote server.
Webapp
Open the instance URL in a browser: http://localhost:3000 locally, or https://<your-domain> for a remote deploy. Sign up (first user owns the org), connect a model, build and run agents. No CLI required. See Using Appstrate / Webapp.
CLI
Install the CLI on whichever machine you want to drive from:
bun install -g appstrate
appstrate login --instance http://localhost:3000 # local
appstrate login --instance https://appstrate.acme.com # remoteThe CLI stores a named profile in your OS keyring with a 15-minute access token + 30-day rotating refresh token. Use --profile to juggle multiple instances (local, staging, prod). See CLI / Profile workflow for the full profile reference.
Next steps
- Quickstart: run your first agent end-to-end in 5 minutes
- Self-Hosting: production checklist, environment variables, Docker Compose, upgrades
- Using Appstrate / CLI: full CLI reference
- Using Appstrate / Webapp: the browser UI