Developer Quickstart

Start building trusted agents in 10 minutes

This guide walks you through setting up the Authevo stack locally, generating agent credentials, deploying your first agent, and executing policy-checked actions with cryptographic proofs.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

Docker & Docker Compose — For running the Authevo stack
Node.js 18+ — Runtime for CLI and runner tools
pnpm — Package manager (npm install -g pnpm)

Step-by-Step Setup

Clone & Install Dependencies

Clone the repository and install all workspace dependencies.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-org/authevo-mvp.git
cd authevo-mvp

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

Start the Authevo Stack

Launch PostgreSQL, OPA, and the API server using Docker Compose.

cd infra
docker-compose up -d

# Wait for services (~30 seconds)
docker-compose ps

# Verify API health
curl http://localhost:4000/health

Generate Agent Keys

Create an Ed25519 keypair and DID for your agent.

cd ../cli
pnpm install && pnpm build

# Generate keys
node dist/keys.js gen --out ../agent-key.json

# Output example:
# DID: did:key:z6MkhaXgBZD...
# Keys saved to ../agent-key.json

Deploy Your Agent

# Extract DID and public key
DID=$(jq -r .did ../agent-key.json)
PUBKEY=$(jq -r .publicKey ../agent-key.json)

# Deploy agent
curl -X POST http://localhost:4000/deploy \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d "{
    \"name\": \"Refund Agent\",
    \"did\": \"$DID\",
    \"publicKey\": \"$PUBKEY\",
    \"policyId\": \"refund_v1\"
  }"

# Save the returned agent.id

Execute Your First Action

Run the agent with a sample payload. The policy will evaluate and sign the action.

cd ../runner
pnpm install

# Permitted action (≤ $100)
pnpm dev -- --manifest ../manifests/refund-agent.json \
  --payload '{"orderId":"o-123","amount":50}'

# Denied action (> $100)
pnpm dev -- --manifest ../manifests/refund-agent.json \
  --payload '{"orderId":"o-456","amount":150}'

Verify in the UI

Open the web interface to view and verify your agent's action history.

# Start the UI (if not running)
cd ../ui && pnpm dev

# Open browser to:
http://localhost:3000

# Enter your agent ID and click "Verify" on any action

What's Next?

Explore the Policy Library — Ready-to-use Rego snippets for common workflows
Read the Security Brief — Architecture overview for CISOs
Calculate Your ROI — Quantify the savings from automation

Common Commands

Command	Description
`docker-compose up -d`	Start the Authevo stack
`node dist/keys.js gen`	Generate new agent keypair
`curl /deploy`	Register a new agent
`pnpm dev -- --manifest`	Execute agent action
`curl /audit/:agentId`	List agent action history
`curl /verify/:actionId`	Verify a specific action
`curl /revoke`	Revoke an agent's DID

Troubleshooting

Services not starting?

docker-compose logs

Can't connect to API?

curl http://localhost:4000/health

Signature verification fails?

Ensure the DID in your manifest matches the deployed agent
Check that the agent-key.json path is correct