Install on a server

One command installs Mantle on a Linux server and starts it.

Before you start

• A Linux server with Docker Engine and the Compose plugin (docker compose version works), plus openssl and curl. No server yet: see Get a server.
• 8 GB of RAM or more for the full stack. With less than 6 GB, use the small server shape.
• 20 GB of free disk or more. The installer stops below 5 GB.
• An OpenRouter key. You paste it into the setup wizard after the install, not into a file.
• For HTTPS: a domain that points at the server. See Add a domain and HTTPS.

What OpenRouter is for

OpenRouter is one account and one key that reach many AI models. Mantle uses it by default for the agents’ chat, the background work that summarises new items and pulls out facts, reading images and PDFs, web research, speech and image generation.

Search embeddings use an online model on your OpenRouter or OpenAI key, picked in the setup wizard. You can move them to the bundled local embedder, and point any agent or worker at a model on your own machine. See Use local models.

Set a credit limit on the key at openrouter.ai/keys. Spend then stops at that amount.

What the domain is for

A domain, for example brain.example.com, is the address of your brain. It points at the server that runs Mantle, and you open Jackdaw there. It also gives the brain HTTPS, which the remote MCP connector needs. See Add a domain and HTTPS.

Install

1. On the server, run:

   curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/crossworks-engineering/mantle/main/install.sh | bash

2. Answer the questions. Press Enter to take the default.

   Question	Default
   How should people reach this brain?	1, a domain with HTTPS. 2 is this machine only, 3 is this machine’s network.
   Install the small core shape?	No (yes when the server has less than 6 GB of RAM)
   Enable CLI sandboxes?	Yes
   Bundle the local embedder?	No
   Run the owner web UI?	Yes

3. Read the review and answer Go ahead? with Enter. The first install downloads about 2 GB.

4. Note the address and the setup code printed at the end. You need both to create your account.

Mantle installs into ./mantle. Running the command again is safe: it keeps your data and secrets.

Back up mantle/.env. It holds the master key that decrypts your stored API keys and mail passwords. See Backups and restore.

Check it worked

The installer ends with Installation complete and the address to open. Check again at any time:

cd mantle && bash scripts/install.sh --check

If it fails

• Installation incomplete: run the check above and docker compose logs --tail 50 web caddy in mantle, fix what is flagged, then run the installer again.
• Image pull failed: usually a network blip. Run the installer again.
• Port 80 already in use: without a domain the installer moves to port 8080 and prints that address. With a domain, see Add a domain and HTTPS.

Next

• Create your account
• Install options: silent installs, sandboxes, the local embedder, media, no UI.