Quickstart¶
Get a running agent in under 5 minutes.
1. Open the Dashboard¶
This opens the Vandelay TUI dashboard. On first launch, the onboarding wizard appears automatically and walks you through 5 steps:
- Agent name: What to call your agent
- LLM provider: Pick from 10 providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Ollama, etc.)
- API key / Auth: Stored securely in
~/.vandelay/.env(skipped for Ollama; OpenAI subscription uses OAuth) - Model: Select the specific model to use (curated list per provider)
- Timezone: For scheduling and cron jobs
Your config is saved to ~/.vandelay/config.json and workspace files are created at ~/.vandelay/workspace/.
Already configured? The TUI opens directly on the Chat tab — no wizard needed.
2. Start the Server¶
After onboarding finishes, you'll land on the Chat tab. If the server isn't running yet, the TUI header shows a Start button — click it to launch the agent server. The Chat tab connects automatically once it's up.
For 24/7 operation, install the daemon so it starts automatically on login/reboot:
You can also start the server manually from a terminal with
vandelay start --server, but the Start button in the TUI is the easier path.
3. Chat¶
Back in the TUI, the Chat tab is your primary interface. Try:
What can you do?
What tools do you have?
Create a cron job that runs every morning at 8am to check the weather
What Just Happened?¶
- The agent loaded your config, model, and workspace files
- Memory and session history are being persisted to
~/.vandelay/data/vandelay.db - Vandelay provides additional features that Agno OS can easily view:
- Tracing: Every agent run, tool call, and model invocation is traced automatically
- Knowledge: RAG pipeline for document search (enable via
vandelay config) - Chat: Chat directly with your main agent and explore what it can do
- Metrics: Keep an eye on your token usage
- Evaluations: Measure the quality of your agent
Next Steps¶
- Enable tools - Add shell, file, browser, and more
- Set up Telegram - Chat with your agent from your phone
- Configure your team - Add specialist members
- Deploy to a server - Run 24/7 on a VPS