Bare Metal Deployment

Run Autopilot directly on a Linux server or macOS machine. Best for development, small teams, or when you need full control over the runtime.

Install Bun

terminal

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
source ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc

bun --version  # Should be 1.3+

Install Autopilot CLI

terminal

bun add -g @questpie/autopilot
autopilot --version

Initialize a Company

terminal

autopilot init my-company
cd my-company

This scaffolds the full company filesystem from the solo-dev template, initializes a git repository, and creates the first commit.

Configure

terminal

# Authenticate (choose one)
autopilot provider set openrouter --api-key sk-or-...    # Use Claude subscription (recommended)
# OR
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...  # Use API key

# Recommended: master key for secrets encryption
export AUTOPILOT_MASTER_KEY=$(openssl rand -base64 32)

# Recommended: production mode (secure cookies, HTTPS)
export NODE_ENV=production

For persistent env vars, add them to your shell profile or use a process manager (see below).

Start the Orchestrator

terminal

cd my-company
autopilot start

This starts:

Filesystem watcher (tasks, comms, dashboard, team config)
Cron scheduler
Webhook server on port 7777
REST API + SSE stream on port 7778
SQLite database initialization and indexing

The process runs in the foreground until you press Ctrl+C.

Running as a systemd Service

For production Linux servers, run Autopilot as a systemd service.

1. Create a service user

terminal

sudo useradd -r -m -d /opt/autopilot -s /bin/bash autopilot

2. Set up the company directory

terminal

sudo -u autopilot bash -c '
  cd /opt/autopilot
  autopilot init my-company
'

3. Create an environment file

/opt/autopilot/.env

AUTOPILOT_MASTER_KEY=your-generated-key-here
NODE_ENV=production
# Uncomment if using API key instead of subscription login (autopilot provider set openrouter --api-key sk-or-...):
# OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-your-key-here

terminal

sudo chown autopilot:autopilot /opt/autopilot/.env
sudo chmod 600 /opt/autopilot/.env

4. Create the systemd unit

/etc/systemd/system/autopilot.service

[Unit]
Description=QUESTPIE Autopilot Orchestrator
After=network.target
Documentation=https://autopilot.questpie.com/docs/self-hosting

[Service]
Type=simple
User=autopilot
Group=autopilot
WorkingDirectory=/opt/autopilot/my-company
EnvironmentFile=/opt/autopilot/.env
ExecStart=/home/autopilot/.bun/bin/autopilot start
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
StartLimitIntervalSec=60
StartLimitBurst=3

# Security hardening
NoNewPrivileges=true
ProtectSystem=strict
ProtectHome=read-only
ReadWritePaths=/opt/autopilot
PrivateTmp=true

# Resource limits
LimitNOFILE=65536
MemoryMax=1G

# Logging
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
SyslogIdentifier=autopilot

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

5. Enable and start

terminal

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable autopilot
sudo systemctl start autopilot

# Check status
sudo systemctl status autopilot

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u autopilot -f

6. Manage the service

terminal

# Stop
sudo systemctl stop autopilot

# Restart
sudo systemctl restart autopilot

# View recent logs
sudo journalctl -u autopilot --since "10 minutes ago"

Running with a Process Manager

If you prefer a process manager over systemd (macOS, or preference):

Using pm2 (works with Bun)

terminal

bun add -g pm2

# Start
cd /path/to/my-company
pm2 start "autopilot start" --name autopilot

# Auto-start on reboot
pm2 startup
pm2 save

# Logs
pm2 logs autopilot

# Restart
pm2 restart autopilot

Environment variables with pm2

ecosystem.config.cjs

module.exports = {
  apps: [{
    name: 'autopilot',
    script: 'autopilot',
    args: 'start',
    cwd: '/path/to/my-company',
    env: {
      OPENROUTER_API_KEY: 'sk-or-...',
      AUTOPILOT_MASTER_KEY: 'your-key',
      NODE_ENV: 'production',
    },
  }],
}

terminal

pm2 start ecosystem.config.cjs

Updating

terminal

# Update the CLI
bun add -g @questpie/autopilot@latest

# Restart the service
sudo systemctl restart autopilot
# or: pm2 restart autopilot

The SQLite database is rebuilt automatically on startup. No manual migrations needed.

Verifying the Installation

terminal

# Health check
curl http://localhost:7778/api/health

# API status
curl http://localhost:7778/api/status

# List agents
curl http://localhost:7778/api/agents

Next Steps

Configuration Reference — full company.yaml schema and env vars
Networking — TLS, reverse proxy, webhook tunneling
Authentication — enable auth and create team members

Bare Metal Deployment

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