Setup & Prerequisites

Build the Binary

cargo build

Expected: Compiles 55 workspace members. Zero errors. Warnings are acceptable.

Run Automated Tests First

cargo test

Expected: ~645 tests pass (workspace sum), 0 failures. Some tests may be ignored (PTY tests in sandboxed environments).

Required Services

Service	How to start	Required for
Ollama	`ollama serve`	LLM-powered features (chat, mission, draft, etc.)
Ollama model	`ollama pull llama3.2`	Must have at least one model pulled

Optional Environment Variables

Variable	Purpose	Default
`RUST_LOG`	Tracing level	`info`
`RUSVEL_API_TOKEN`	Bearer token for API auth	None (open)
`RUSVEL_RATE_LIMIT`	API rate limit (req/sec)	100
`RUSVEL_SMTP_HOST`	SMTP for outreach emails	Mock adapter
`RUSVEL_SMTP_PORT`	SMTP port	–
`RUSVEL_SMTP_USER`	SMTP username	–
`RUSVEL_SMTP_PASSWORD`	SMTP password	–
`RUSVEL_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN`	Telegram notifications	Disabled
`RUSVEL_FLOW_PARALLEL_EVALUATE`	Enable parallel flow nodes	`0`
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Claude API provider	Claude CLI fallback
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	OpenAI provider	–

Data Directory

RUSVEL stores data in ~/.rusvel/:

rusvel.db – SQLite database
config.toml – configuration
shell_history.txt – REPL history
lance/ – vector store data

To reset to clean state: rm -rf ~/.rusvel/ (destructive – removes all data).

Docker Alternative

docker compose up

Expected: Starts RUSVEL on :3000 + Ollama on :11434. No local install needed.

Environment Combos

Minimal (no AI)

cargo run
# Test all non-LLM features: CRUD, DB browser, config, etc.

Full Local

ollama serve &
ollama pull llama3.2
cargo run
# All features available

With Claude API

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
cargo run
# Uses Claude for higher-quality responses

With Notifications

export RUSVEL_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=...
cargo run
# POST /api/system/notify sends Telegram messages

Testing Tools

Tool	Use for	Install
`curl`	API testing	Pre-installed on macOS
`jq`	JSON formatting	`brew install jq`
`websocat`	WebSocket testing	`brew install websocat`
`httpie`	Friendlier API calls	`brew install httpie`
`just`	Task runner recipes	`brew install just`
`watchexec`	File-watching re-runs	`cargo install watchexec-cli`

httpie Examples (alternative to curl)

# GET
http :3000/api/health
http :3000/api/departments

# POST
http POST :3000/api/sessions name=test kind=General

# SSE streaming
http --stream POST :3000/api/chat message="hello"

Keyboard shortcuts

RUSVEL