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Getting started

Start the smallest useful Automata stack, create one connection, and hand a narrowly scoped connector token to your MCP client.

Skip local setup

Want to avoid installing dependencies yourself? Deploy Automata on Railway with one click and provision Postgres, Redis, and volumes automatically. The steps below cover running Automata locally for development. To self-host on a server without building anything, use the Docker Compose guide.

Prerequisites

Git and Docker with Docker Compose
Node.js and Corepack
pnpm as pinned by the source repository
A PostgreSQL connection string, or the credentials required by your chosen messenger connector

Note

The source project is a Nuxt application. These commands belong in the cloned automata-mcp repository, not this documentation repository.

Start the core services

Copy the environment template, install dependencies, and start Postgres:

cp .env.example .env
pnpm install
pnpm services:up

The template's NUXT_DATABASE_URL already points at the bundled Postgres. The web app creates its own app schema there on first boot, so there is no separate admin account to configure.

Add a connector profile only when needed:

pnpm services:up:whatsapp
pnpm services:up:telegram

The WhatsApp profile adds Redis and Evolution API. The Telegram profile adds the Telegram bridge. Both share the same Postgres.

Run the web app

Nuxt runs on the host to preserve hot module replacement:

pnpm dev

Open http://localhost:3000. Postgres listens on 5432, Evolution on 8080, and the Telegram bridge health endpoint is http://localhost:8095/health.

Important

There is no predev hook. Start the required services before running the web application.

Create a connection

Sign up, which creates your organization with you as its administrator. Then select New connection and choose one kind:

Pair WhatsApp by scanning the QR code from WhatsApp → Settings → Linked devices.
Link Telegram from Telegram → Settings → Devices → Link Desktop Device.
Paste a PostgreSQL connection string. Automata proves the connection before saving it.

Follow the connector-specific guide before using a real messenger account.

Mint a connector token

From the connection dashboard, select New connector token. Give it a label, choose an expiry, and select only the tools and resources needed by the client.

Copy the token now

The raw token is shown once. Automata stores only its SHA-256 hash. A lost token cannot be recovered; replace it with a new one.

Connect your client

Use the endpoint displayed by the connection dashboard. For a local path-token client:

http://localhost:3000/mcp/<connector-token>

For clients that support headers, use http://localhost:3000/mcp with:

Authorization: Bearer <connector-token>

Continue with the MCP client guide, then use the status or database-info tool to confirm the connection.

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