Install ABS Studio

Before you start

• Docker — Desktop on macOS or Windows, Engine on Linux. The server runs in containers; this is the one dependency.
• About 6 GB of free disk for the images and the vector store.
• A provider key — Groq, Cerebras and Gemini all have free tiers, and ABS prefers free providers by default. You can add one after installing; you do not need it to start.

1. Download

Builds for macOS, Linux and Windows will be published on the download page. Take the editor build for your platform and the abs-server archive from the same release — they are versioned together and a mismatched pair is the most common cause of a panel that will not connect.

2. Start the server

Unpack the server archive and run the installer from inside it:

tar xzf abs-server-*.tar.gz
cd abs-server-*
./install.sh

It checks Docker, fills in the settings it can work out for itself — the address, a database password, the image build for your processor — pulls the images and starts everything. There is nothing to edit first.

When it finishes it prints two addresses: the panel at https://localhost, and the address to give the editor, usually http://localhost:8000. They differ on purpose — the panel is served through a reverse proxy with its own certificate, which your machine has no reason to trust, and the editor cannot be told to ignore that. If something else on your machine already uses port 8000 the installer moves to the next free one and tells you which.

Keep the directory it created. The .env inside it holds your database password and the secret every licence and session on this machine is signed with.

3. Enter your licence key

Open the panel, and paste the key from your purchase email into the activation box. Every install also begins with a seven-day trial, so the editor works before you have a key at all — the key is what keeps it working afterwards.

4. Open the editor

Install the editor build the way your platform expects (drag to Applications on macOS, the .deb/.tar.gz on Linux, the installer on Windows).

The server installer already pointed the editor at itself, so there is usually nothing to configure. It only does that when the editor has no settings file yet — an existing one is yours, and it says so rather than rewriting it. If you need to set the address by hand it is abs.serverUrl, under Settings → Extensions → ABS, and the value is the one the installer printed.

Then add a provider key from the Command Palette: ABS: Add a provider key. ABS asks the provider whether the key authenticates before it stores it, so a key that was mistyped tells you immediately instead of failing later.

Where to get one — none of these need a card:

• Groq — console.groq.com/keys. A good first key: it leads the free chain by default.
• Cerebras — cloud.cerebras.ai.
• Gemini — aistudio.google.com/apikey.
• Ollama — ollama.com, if you would rather nothing left the machine at all. Point the server at it and ABS puts it ahead of anything paid.

Already paying for ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro or Google AI Pro? Those are subscriptions to the chat apps, not API credit, so there is no key to paste — but each vendor ships a CLI the subscription covers, and ABS can drive it. Install the CLI on the machine your server runs on, sign in once in the browser it opens, and ABS picks it up:

• ChatGPT Plus / Pro — npm install -g @openai/codex, then codex login.
• Claude Pro / Max — npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code, then run claude once.
• Google AI Pro — the Antigravity CLI, then run agy once.

Nothing is stored on our side and nothing is stored by ABS: the session belongs to your account, on your machine. These start in seconds rather than milliseconds, so ABS uses them for the deep work — proposals and reviews — and keeps the fast paths on the free tiers.

One key is enough to start. ABS runs at whatever level the keys you brought allow, and the editor says which capability the next key would unlock — a second provider from a different vendor is what turns failover and the second opinion on.

When something does not start

• The panel does not load. Check the containers are up with docker compose ps from the server directory. A container in a restart loop usually means the port is already taken — install.sh reports which one.
• The editor says the server is unreachable. That is the editor being honest rather than pretending to be offline: the address in Settings is not answering. Confirm the panel opens in a browser first.
• A provider shows as configured but nothing runs. Re-add the key. ABS validates keys on entry now, but a key stored before that check existed was never verified by anyone.
• Your licence key is refused. Keys are bound to the install's signing secret. If you reinstalled and did not keep the directory install.sh created, write to support and we will reissue.

Next: actually using it

The usage guide walks through what you do day to day — asking about code, reading a graded proposal, running your checks in a sandbox, committing with evidence — with a real screenshot at every step.

Still stuck

info@automatiabcn.com. Refunds are unconditional for 14 days — see the refund policy.