---
title: "Quick Start"
description: "Install Astromesh Node and run your first agent in under 5 minutes"
---

This guide gets Astromesh Node installed and running on your system. Pick your platform and follow the steps.

## Step 1: Install

import { Tabs, TabItem } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

<Tabs>
<TabItem label="Debian / Ubuntu">

```bash
# Download the latest release
curl -LO https://github.com/monaccode/astromesh/releases/latest/download/astromesh_latest_amd64.deb

# Install
sudo apt install ./astromesh_latest_amd64.deb
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem label="RHEL / Fedora">

```bash
# Download the latest release
curl -LO https://github.com/monaccode/astromesh/releases/latest/download/astromesh_latest_x86_64.rpm

# Install
sudo rpm -i astromesh_latest_x86_64.rpm
# or on Fedora/RHEL 8+:
sudo dnf install ./astromesh_latest_x86_64.rpm
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem label="macOS">

```bash
# Download and extract
curl -LO https://github.com/monaccode/astromesh/releases/latest/download/astromesh_latest_darwin.tar.gz
tar -xzf astromesh_latest_darwin.tar.gz

# Run the installer
cd astromesh_latest_darwin
sudo ./install.sh
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem label="Windows">

```powershell
# Download and extract
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://github.com/monaccode/astromesh/releases/latest/download/astromesh_latest_windows.zip -OutFile astromesh.zip
Expand-Archive -Path astromesh.zip -DestinationPath astromesh

# Run the installer (as Administrator)
cd astromesh
.\install.ps1
```

</TabItem>
</Tabs>

Verify the installation:

```bash
astromeshctl version
```

Expected output:

```
Astromesh Node v0.18.0
Daemon:  /opt/astromesh/bin/astromeshd
CLI:     /opt/astromesh/bin/astromeshctl
Python:  3.12.x
Platform: linux/amd64
```

## Step 2: Initialize

Run the interactive configuration wizard. This generates your `runtime.yaml`, `providers.yaml`, and a default agent:

```bash
sudo astromeshctl init --profile full
```

The wizard prompts for your LLM provider (Ollama, OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) and memory backend. For a quick start with a local model:

```
? Select deployment profile: full
? Select provider: Ollama (local)
? Ollama endpoint: http://localhost:11434
? Select model: llama3.1:8b
? Enable memory? Yes
? Memory backend: SQLite (local)
? Enable observability? No

Configuration written to /etc/astromesh/
```

To use a specific profile without the interactive wizard, pass `--profile` and provider flags:

```bash
sudo astromeshctl init --profile full --provider ollama --model llama3.1:8b --non-interactive
```

## Step 3: Start the Service

<Tabs>
<TabItem label="Linux (systemd)">

```bash
sudo systemctl enable astromeshd
sudo systemctl start astromeshd
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem label="macOS (launchd)">

```bash
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.astromesh.astromeshd.plist
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem label="Windows">

```powershell
Start-Service AstromeshDaemon
Set-Service AstromeshDaemon -StartupType Automatic
```

</TabItem>
</Tabs>

## Step 4: Verify

Check that the daemon is running and agents are loaded:

```bash
astromeshctl status
```

Expected output:

```
┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Astromesh Status             │
├──────────────┬───────────────────────┤
│ Status       │ ● Running             │
│ Version      │ 0.18.0                │
│ Uptime       │ 0h 0m 12s             │
│ Profile      │ full                  │
│ PID          │ 4521                  │
│ Agents       │ 1 loaded              │
│ Providers    │ 1 healthy, 0 degraded │
│ Memory       │ 128.0 MB              │
└──────────────┴───────────────────────┘
```

Run a full diagnostics check:

```bash
astromeshctl doctor
```

## Step 5: Run Your First Agent

With the service running, call the API:

```bash
curl -s http://localhost:8000/v1/agents/default/run \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "Hello! What can you do?"}' | jq .
```

Expected response:

```json
{
  "agent": "default",
  "response": "Hello! I'm your Astromesh assistant. I can answer questions, help with research...",
  "session_id": "sess_abc123",
  "tokens_used": 42
}
```

## Next Steps

- [Configuration](/astromesh/node/configuration/) — Customize `runtime.yaml`, profiles, and environment variables
- [CLI Reference](/astromesh/node/cli-reference/) — Full `astromeshctl` command reference
- [Troubleshooting](/astromesh/node/troubleshooting/) — Common issues and `astromeshctl doctor`
- [Your First Agent](/astromesh/getting-started/first-agent/) — Define a custom agent in YAML
