Quick Start

Routa currently has three ways to start using the product:

• Desktop: best default for most users
• CLI: best for terminal-first workflows
• Web: best for browser-first access and self-hosting

If you only want the shortest path to “Routa is running and useful”, start with Desktop or CLI.

First Success Checklist

The right goal for your first 5 minutes is not “understand all of Routa”. It is:

1. choose one surface
2. make one provider available
3. point Routa at a real repository
4. get one useful answer or plan back

Which Path Should You Choose?

Path	Best for	Install method	Recommendation
Desktop	Most users, visual workflows, Kanban/session/team UI	Download from GitHub Releases	Recommended
CLI	Terminal-first users, scripting, ACP/runtime commands	npm install -g routa-cli or cargo install routa-cli	Recommended
Web	Self-hosting, browser-based access, internal deployment	Run the web runtime from source	Optional

Fastest Paths

If you want the shortest “it works” path, use one of these:

Desktop In Practice

1. Download Routa Desktop from GitHub Releases.
2. Create a workspace and enable one provider.
3. Attach a repository.
4. Open Session and ask: Explain the architecture of this repository.

CLI In Practice

npm install -g routa-cli
routa -p "Explain the architecture of this repository"

If that returns a useful answer against a real repository, your CLI setup is already good enough to keep going.

Desktop

Desktop is the best starting point if you want the full Routa experience:

• workspace creation
• provider management
• session and Kanban flows
• team coordination
• local-first storage and execution

Install

1. Open GitHub Releases.
2. Download the latest Desktop build for your platform.
3. Install and launch Routa Desktop.

First Run

After launch:

1. Create a workspace.
2. Open Providers and make one provider available.
3. Attach a local repository or clone one from GitHub.
4. Start with Session and ask Routa to inspect or plan work in your repository.
5. Move to Kanban when you want decomposition and lane automation.

Why Desktop First

Desktop is the cleanest onboarding path because it exposes the full product model without asking users to assemble the runtime manually.

CLI

CLI is the best path if you live in the terminal and want to use Routa directly inside an existing repository.

Install From npm

This is the easiest CLI install for most users:

npm install -g routa-cli

Check the install:

routa --help
routa --version

Install From Cargo

If you are Rust-first:

cargo install routa-cli

Check the install:

routa --help
routa --version

Use Without Global Install

If you just want to try it:

npx -p routa-cli routa --help

First Commands

The fastest smoke test is a one-off prompt:

routa -p "Explain the architecture of this repository"
routa -p "Plan the next refactor for this codebase"

Useful next commands:

routa acp list
routa acp runtime-status
routa workspace list
routa team status --workspace-id default

Why CLI First

CLI is the fastest path when:

• you already have your repo open in a terminal
• you want one-shot execution instead of switching to a UI
• you want scripting, automation, or ACP/runtime inspection

Web

Web is a first-class Routa runtime surface, but it is not the main “download and go” path. Treat it as:

• the self-hosted browser surface for teams
• the internal deployment target when you want browser access
• the runtime that shares domain semantics with Desktop

Run Locally

npm install --legacy-peer-deps
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

If you want the web UI to point at the local desktop/backend server:

ROUTA_RUST_BACKEND_URL="http://127.0.0.1:3210" npm run dev

Recommendation

Use these defaults:

• choose Desktop if you want the product experience
• choose CLI if you want the terminal experience
• choose Web if you want browser-based access or self-hosted deployment

What To Read Next

Pick the next page based on what you are trying to do:

• Use Routa if setup is done and you want workflows
• Configuration if models or providers are not ready yet
• Platforms if you are still choosing between Desktop, CLI, and Web
• Use Routa if you want examples rather than concepts
• What's New if you are evaluating recent changes

Next Steps

After Quick Start:

• read Use Routa
• read Configuration
• compare Platforms if you are still choosing a surface
• read Use Routa
• read What's New