Skip to main content

​
What you need

A machine and a hostname

One small box. The app listens on plain HTTP and expects something in front of it for TLS.

An OpenRouter key

Every model call runs through it. A plain inference key, not a provisioning key.

A Vercel Sandbox

Token, team id and project id. Gus runs its harness there and nowhere else.

Nothing else

No Postgres to install, no Redis, no object store. All optional, all configured later.

​
1. Start it

CRAFTSPACE_URL is the address people will reach this install on. Every other origin derives from it, so on a single domain it is the only one you have to set. Set it before anyone signs in: it is what OAuth callbacks, invite links and the MCP endpoint are all built from.

​
2. Create the first account

Open the install and sign in. The first account to arrive becomes the install owner, which is the only account that can change server settings.
The Craftspace sign-in screen

With no mail provider configured, the sign-in code goes to the server log and the screen says so.

This is first-come and there is no screen to hand it over. On a box that is already reachable from the internet, create your own account before you tell anyone the URL.

​
3. Give it a model

Settings, then the server settings screen. Everything this server runs on is on one page, and the two under Gus’s runtime are the ones that are not optional.
The server settings screen, listing OpenRouter and Vercel Sandbox as not set up

Server settings on a fresh install. Gus stays unconfigured until both runtime cards are set up.

Paste an OpenRouter API key. Mint a plain key at openrouter.ai/settings/keys. A provisioning or management key looks valid and then fails on every answer, so the check refuses one on purpose. Leave the per-team cap blank, or set it to 0, unless you actually want a ceiling.

​
4. Give it a sandbox

On the same screen, add the Vercel Sandbox token, team id and project id. Until both this and the model key are set, Gus will tell you it is unconfigured rather than half-working.

​
5. Write something, then read it from an agent

Make a page. Then point an agent at your MCP endpoint and ask it something only that page knows. That round trip is the whole product, and it is worth doing on day one.