Quickstart in 60 seconds

This is the fastest look at PAL Runtime. Pick the no-key demo if you have nothing but Docker, or run one command to get a real agent on your own key. Both need the pal CLI from a checkout (Install); the first Docker build takes a few minutes, then each command takes seconds.

Path	You need	First command	Takes you to
No key	Docker	pal demo	Try it: the demo
Your key	Docker, Node 22, Go, a provider key	pal onboard	Your first agent
Your code	The stack from the row above, an API key	An SDK call	SDKs

No key: the demo

1. Start the demo. It answers from recorded replays.

   pal demo

   Last lines of a real run

    Container pal-demo-dashboard-1  Started
   demo ready in 1m15s: http://localhost:3001/kiosk

   The first run builds the images and takes minutes; later starts reuse them.

2. Open http://localhost:3001/kiosk. You get a private workspace with sample agents.

3. Stop it and delete its data.

   pal demo --down

   Last lines of a real run

    Volume pal-demo_pg-data  Removed
    Network pal-demo_default  Removed
   demo stopped, data deleted

Your key: your agent

1. Boot the local stack (Postgres, Redis, MinIO, the API on :8080, the dashboard on :3001).

   pal dev

2. In a second terminal, describe an agent in one sentence. PAL designs a spec, test-calls your key, creates the agent and streams its first run.

   pal onboard --yes --provider anthropic --api-key "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
     --description "Turn meeting notes into a summary with action items"

   A real run on a fresh database (model text in <…>)

   PAL onboard — let's get you set up.
   ────────────────────────────────────────────────
   1. Health check ... ✓
   2. Authentication ... ✓  dev login (<dev account>)
   3. LLM provider ... ✗  none configured
   3. LLM provider ... ✓  anthropic
   4. Agent ... ✓
   
      Proposed agent: <name>
      …
      ✓ created <name>
   5. First run ... ✓  run <run-id> started
      streaming events:
      …   # one started/completed line per step
   ────────────────────────────────────────────────
   You're set.
   
   Agent output:
     <the agent's answer>
   
   Dashboard:  http://localhost:3001/runs/<run-id>

3. Run it again with your own input.

   pal runs create --agent <name-it-printed> --input '{"notes":"..."}' --stream

Your first agent explains each step and the browser version.

From your code

With the stack from the previous tab running and an API key from Settings > API keys:

TypeScript

import { PalClient } from "@pal-runtime/sdk";

const client = new PalClient({ baseUrl: "http://localhost:8080", apiKey: process.env.PAL_API_KEY });
const run = await client.runs.create({ agent: "my-agent", input: { notes: "..." } });
for await (const e of client.runs.events(run.id)) console.log(e.kind);

Python

from pal import PalClient

async with PalClient(base_url="http://localhost:8080") as client:
    run = await client.runs.create(agent="my-agent", input={"notes": "..."})
    async for e in client.runs.events(run.id):
        print(e)

Go

import pal "github.com/dshakes/pal/packages/sdk-go"

c := pal.New(pal.WithBaseURL("http://localhost:8080"))
r, err := c.CreateRun(ctx, pal.RunOptions{AgentName: "my-agent", Input: map[string]string{"notes": "..."}})

curl

curl -s -X POST localhost:8080/v1/runs -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAL_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"agentName":"my-agent","input":{"notes":"..."}}'

Install notes for each SDK are in SDKs. Pass baseUrl explicitly: the SDK default does not resolve.

Check your setup

pal doctor

Each check prints one pass or fail line and, for a failure, the fix. When every check passes, the last line is doctor: all checks passed — stack is ready (doctor.go).

Troubleshooting

You see	Cause and fix
docker is required	The CLI could not run docker. Start Docker Desktop, or sudo systemctl start docker on Linux, then retry.
run `pal demo` from inside a PAL checkout	pal demo reads the compose files from the repo. cd into the clone.
waiting for http://localhost:8080/healthz times out	A container did not become healthy, usually a port already in use. Inspect it with docker compose -p pal-demo logs, or override with KIOSK_API_PORT or KIOSK_WEB_PORT.
pal: command not found	$(go env GOPATH)/bin is not on your PATH. Add export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin" to your shell profile.

Next: Your first agent.