Installation

Install AgentDesk and run the setup wizard.

AgentDesk is distributed as an npm package. Install it globally, run the setup wizard, and start the dashboard.

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18 or later
  • npm 9 or later
  • An LLM provider API key (Anthropic, OpenAI, z.ai, OpenRouter, MiniMax, or a custom endpoint)

Install

$ npm i -g @zish/agent-desk

Setup

Run the interactive setup wizard:

$ agdesk setup

The wizard will:

  1. Create the data directory at ~/.agent-desk/
  2. Generate encryption keys and internal auth tokens
  3. Ask you to pick an LLM provider and enter your API key
  4. Write config.json and .env files

Non-interactive setup

For CI or container environments, pass flags directly:

$ agdesk setup --yes --preset z-ai --credential $AGDESK_PROVIDER_KEY

Available flags:

FlagDescription
--yesSkip all interactive prompts
--preset <key>Provider preset: anthropic-subscription, anthropic-api-key, z-ai, openrouter, minimax, openai, custom
--credential <key>Your API key or OAuth token
--base-url <url>Custom provider base URL
--default-model <model>Default model to use

Start

$ agdesk start

This forks a background daemon process. Once ready, the dashboard is available at:

http://localhost:3737

Data directory

AgentDesk stores all data in ~/.agent-desk/:

~/.agent-desk/
  .env              # Secrets (encryption key, internal token)
  config.json       # Server and dispatcher settings
  data.db           # SQLite database
  projects/         # Project file workspaces
  avatars/          # Generated agent avatars
  logs/agdesk.log   # Application logs
  agdesk.pid        # Daemon process ID

You can override the data directory by setting AGDESK_HOME:

$ AGDESK_HOME=/opt/agentdesk agdesk start

What’s Next?