AXON — AI Agent Platform

Local mode: one workspace, agents and workflows kept in your browser, and every run simulated. Nothing to sign up for.

1. Install Node.js

   Download the LTS version from nodejs.org and run the installer. AXON needs Node.js 20.9 or newer.

   Check it worked — this should print a version number:

   node --version

   Copy

2. Unzip the pack and open a terminal in the folder

   On a Mac, right-click the folder in Finder and choose New Terminal at Folder. On Windows, open the folder, click the address bar, type cmd and press Enter.

3. Install the dependencies

   One time only. It downloads roughly a gigabyte of packages, so the first install can take a few minutes.

   npm install

   Copy

4. Create your settings file and start it

   .env.local is where your own settings and keys go. It is never committed and never leaves your machine.

   cp .env.example .env.local
   npm run dev

   Copy

5. Open it

   Go to http://localhost:3000 and click Start building. Leave the terminal open while you use it; Ctrl+C stops it.

6. Watch a run

   On the dashboard, click Run Stock Market Analyst. Twelve agents run through the workflow graph with a human approval step. The Simulation mode banner at the top is telling the truth: these are sample traces, no model is called and nothing costs money.

Add one model key and runs switch from simulated to live on their own.

1. Get a model key

   The cheapest start is a Gemini key from aistudio.google.com/app/apikey, which has a free tier. An OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek or OpenRouter key works too, or the address of a local Ollama, vLLM or LM Studio server.

2. Add it

   In the app, open Settings → AI providers, paste the key and click Test. Or put it in .env.local and restart npm run dev:

   GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY=your-key-here

   Copy

3. Run the workflow again

   The run now shows live instead of simulated, and the tokens and cost you see are real.

4. Optional: give the agents real tools

   Each tool asks for its own key, and a tool without one is reported to the agent as unavailable — never faked. Market data: FINNHUB_API_KEY, ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY or POLYGON_API_KEY. Web search: PERPLEXITY_API_KEY. Delivering reports: SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL, or TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN with TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID. Add them in Settings → Connections or in .env.local.

5. Before anything real, set an encryption key

   Keys saved from the UI are encrypted. In development a built-in key is used, which is not safe; in production the UI refuses to save keys without your own. Generate one, put it in .env.local as AXON_ENCRYPTION_KEY, and keep a copy in a password manager — lose it and saved keys must be entered again.

   openssl rand -base64 48

   Copy

6. Optional: a private demo

   To put a single-workspace instance online for yourself or one client without accounts, set AXON_DEMO_PASSWORD (at least 8 characters) and it will ask for that password.

Cloud mode adds sign-in, teams and roles, stored data, knowledge search, memory, schedules, audit logs, API keys and billing. The full reference is docs/DEPLOYMENT.md in the pack.

1. Create a Supabase project and apply the schema

   Create a project at supabase.com in the region closest to your customers. In the SQL Editor, paste supabase/migrations/0001_init.sql and run it. That creates every table with row-level security and pgvector for knowledge search.

2. Configure sign-in

   Authentication → URL configuration: set the Site URL to your domain and add https://your-domain/auth/callback as a redirect URL. Set up your own SMTP provider (Resend, Postmark or SES), because Supabase's built-in email is rate-limited.

3. Add the server settings

   Copy the project URL, anon key and service-role key into your environment. The service-role key is server-only: never give it a NEXT_PUBLIC_ name and never commit it.

   NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=
   NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=
   SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=
   AXON_ENCRYPTION_KEY=   # openssl rand -base64 48
   CRON_SECRET=           # openssl rand -hex 32

   Copy

4. Optional: billing with Stripe

   Create a Team product with a monthly and a yearly price and put their IDs in STRIPE_PRICE_TEAM_MONTHLY and STRIPE_PRICE_TEAM_YEARLY. Add a webhook to https://your-domain/api/billing/webhook for checkout.session.completed and customer.subscription.created, .updated and .deleted, then set STRIPE_SECRET_KEY and STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET. Plan limits live in config/plans.ts — test with card 4242 4242 4242 4242 before going live.

5. Deploy

   Vercel: import the project, add every variable from .env.example, and use the Pro plan — long agent runs need 300-second functions and the schedule cron runs every 5 minutes, neither of which Hobby allows. Add Upstash Redis so rate limits are shared between instances.

   Or Docker, behind any HTTPS proxy:

   docker build --build-arg NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=https://your-domain -t axon .
   docker run -p 3000:3000 --env-file .env.production axon

   Copy

6. Check it

   /api/health should return {"ok":true,"database":"ok"}. Sign up, open Settings → System and clear every warning it lists, then run the Stock Market Analyst and confirm it says live and shows up in Analytics.

What to change before you put your name on it.

1. Brand

   Set NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_NAME, NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_TAGLINE, NEXT_PUBLIC_ACCENT_HUE, NEXT_PUBLIC_COMPANY_NAME and NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPPORT_EMAIL, then rebuild — these are baked in at build time. NEXT_PUBLIC_LANDING_ENABLED=false skips the landing page and opens the app directly. Workspace name, logo and colour can also be changed in Settings.

2. Replace the placeholders

   The landing page's plans ($0, $149, Custom), trial wording and marketing copy are placeholders for your business — edit features/landing and config/plans.ts. The Terms, Privacy and Security pages are starting points, not legal documents: have a lawyer adapt them.

3. Build your own agents

   Create agents and workflows in the app and move them between instances with Settings → Import / export. In code, workflows live in workflows/definitions and tools in lib/ai/tools.

4. Check before every deploy

   Type-check, lint, test and build in one go:

   npm run verify

   Copy