alfe setup --managed

alfe setup --managed runs the same connection flow as alfe setup but non-interactively. It reads its configuration from environment variables instead of prompting, which makes it suitable for cloud-init scripts, Dockerfiles, and other unattended provisioning.

ALFE_API_KEY=<your-api-key> alfe setup --managed

Environment variables

Variable	Required	Purpose
ALFE_API_KEY	Yes	The API key the agent authenticates with.
ALFE_API_URL	No	Override the API endpoint. Defaults are derived from the key.
ALFE_MANAGED	No	Set to true to enable managed mode without passing --managed.

If ALFE_API_KEY isn’t set, the command falls back to an existing ~/.alfe/config.toml if one is present; otherwise it errors.

What it does

Managed setup performs the same work as the interactive wizard, in order and without prompts:

1. Resolves the API key from the environment (or existing config) and writes ~/.alfe/config.toml with managed mode enabled.
2. Detects or installs the agent runtime and initializes the workspace.
3. Fetches and applies the agent’s configuration.
4. Installs and starts the gateway daemon as a system service.
5. Registers the Alfe platform MCP server (best-effort; non-fatal if unavailable).

The result is a connected agent that comes back online automatically after a reboot — no interaction required.

Verifying

After provisioning, confirm the agent is healthy:

alfe doctor

You can also check the agent’s status from the dashboard at app.alfe.ai.