Start the Server
From the project root, run:
cargo run
RUSVEL starts the API server on port 3000. You will see:
RUSVEL API listening on 0.0.0.0:3000
Open your browser to http://localhost:3000.
Create Your First Session
Sessions are RUSVEL’s workspaces. Everything – goals, events, conversations, agent runs – lives inside a session.
Via the Web UI
The frontend guides you through creating a session on first load. The onboarding checklist tracks your progress:
- Create a session
- Add a goal
- Generate a daily plan
- Chat with a department
- Create an agent
Via the CLI
# Create a session
cargo run -- session create "My Startup"
# Output:
# Session created: My Startup
# ID: a1b2c3d4-... (set as active session)
The session ID is saved to ~/.rusvel/active_session and used by all subsequent CLI commands.
List and Switch Sessions
# List all sessions
cargo run -- session list
# Switch active session
cargo run -- session switch <session-id>
LLM Configuration
RUSVEL supports four LLM providers. On first run, it auto-detects Ollama if running locally.
| Provider | Setup | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Ollama | Auto-detected if running | Free local inference |
| Claude API | Set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var | High-quality reasoning |
| Claude CLI | Install claude CLI tool | Claude Max subscription |
| OpenAI | Set OPENAI_API_KEY env var | GPT models |
You can configure the default model per department in the Settings page or via the API:
curl -X PUT http://localhost:3000/api/config \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"}'
The MCP Server
RUSVEL can also run as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for integration with Claude Desktop or other MCP clients:
cargo run -- --mcp
This starts a stdio JSON-RPC server instead of the web server.
Directory Structure
After first run, RUSVEL creates:
~/.rusvel/
├── active_session # UUID of the current session
├── config.toml # Global configuration
└── rusvel.db # SQLite database (WAL mode)
Next Steps
With your session created, head to First Mission to set goals and generate your first daily plan.