Quickstart

Run the full Cavalry stack locally in about five minutes. You'll finish with a running web UI, a gateway you can install skills through, and a CLI authenticated against both.

Requirements

  • Node.js 20+
  • pnpm 9+
  • Docker + docker-compose
  • PostgreSQL client tools (optional, for debugging)

1. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/zmeyer44/Cavalry
cd cavalry
cp .env.example .env
pnpm install

2. Boot Postgres + MinIO

docker compose up -d
pnpm db:migrate

3. Start the stack

In one terminal per service:

pnpm --filter @cavalry/web dev       # http://localhost:3000
pnpm --filter @cavalry/gateway dev   # http://localhost:3001
pnpm --filter @cavalry/worker dev    # background jobs

4. Create your org

Open http://localhost:3000, sign up, and pick an org slug. You'll land in the onboarding wizard — step through it (or skip) to set a default policy, connect a registry, and invite teammates.

5. Publish and install a skill

# In the web UI: create an API token under Settings → API tokens
cavalry login --url http://localhost:3001 --token <paste>
cavalry init
cavalry publish .
cavalry install my-namespace/my-skill

6. Try a policy

Create a blocklist policy in /[org]/policies with pattern tessl:*, then try to install anything from Tessl. You'll see the RFC 7807 problem+json response with the matching policy's name.

What now?

  • Connect a skill repo so your internal skills sync automatically from git.
  • Set up an audit webhook to forward events to Splunk or Datadog.
  • Read the architecture overview to understand how everything fits together.