Self-hosting

Run the small service yourself.

Agent Tick is source-available and Docker-first. A Self-Hosted Deployment runs the same least-permission approval flow: local coding agents ask bounded questions, Agent Tick routes them, a human answers from the Native App or Personal Console, and the Local Agent Interface continues locally or stops safely.

Open quick start Open full runbook View source

What you can self-host

Agent Tick's routing layer can run on infrastructure you control.

Agent Tick Self-Hosted Deployments are for operators who want the approval service, Workspace data, request routing, and operational controls under their own account, network, and retention policies.

Approval routing service

A Self-Hosted Deployment runs the Agent Tick service that receives bounded Status Updates, Steering choices, and Sanction requests from your Local Agent Interface and routes them to your chosen human decision surfaces.

Workspace data and routing

A Self-Hosted Deployment keeps Workspace membership, connected-agent records, routing state, Activity History, and request/response records under the infrastructure and retention controls you operate.

Native App connection

The Agent Tick Native App can connect to hosted Agent Tick or to your Self-Hosted Deployment, so phone approvals can use infrastructure you control after setup.

Concrete runbooks

The self-hosting details live with the source.

Agent Tick keeps detailed Self-Hosted Deployment instructions in the source repository so deployment commands, environment variables, database choices, auth modes, backups, upgrades, Nix options, and troubleshooting stay versioned with the server.

Self-hosting Quick Start

Start here for the published-image Docker Compose path, required environment variables, SQLite default, optional PostgreSQL/Redis/Clerk choices, Native App connection, and production checklist.

Operator reference

Use this reference for PostgreSQL, Redis coordination, Clerk mode, retention cleanup, backups, and security settings once the first deployment is running.

Full repository runbook

Use the full runbook for copy-paste Docker recipes, NixOS module examples, backup/restore commands, upgrade checklist, rollback-minded restore steps, and troubleshooting.

Docker-first operation

Start from the source and docs, then operate it like a small service.

Agent Tick's self-hosting path is Docker-first. The quick start uses the published Docker image and `docker-compose.selfhost.yml`; single mode with SQLite is the first path, with PostgreSQL, Redis coordination, and Clerk mode documented as operator choices.

Agent Tick is intentionally a narrow approval-routing service. Operators should plan for ordinary service concerns — configuration, secrets, database state, observability, TLS, backups, upgrades, and rollback-ready restores — rather than treating the Native App as a remote shell.

Hosted convenience

Hosted Agent Tick is the same boundary without the operations work.

Hosted Agent Tick exists for developers and Shared Workspaces that would rather pay for managed routing, push delivery, auth setup, updates, backups, and uptime than run another small service themselves.

License and internal use

Source-available under the Business Source License.

Agent Tick is source-available under the Business Source License 1.1. The LICENSE file states an Additional Use Grant permitting any use except offering Agent Tick to third parties as a hosted or managed service. That grant supports internal commercial Self-Hosted Deployments. The BSL Change Date is 2028-05-31, and the Change License is Apache License, Version 2.0.

Choose self-hosted when

Choose a Self-Hosted Deployment when your team wants to inspect and operate Agent Tick directly, keep approval-routing data on your own infrastructure, or integrate the service into existing internal operations.

Choose hosted when

Choose hosted Agent Tick when your team wants the same bounded approval model without operating servers, auth, push plumbing, backups, updates, monitoring, or maintenance windows.

Operator responsibilities

When you self-host Agent Tick, you operate the service boundary.

A Self-Hosted Deployment means Agent Tick's server-side reliability, security, retention, and compliance choices are yours. Hosted Agent Tick cannot delete, back up, monitor, or secure infrastructure it does not operate.

Server hosting, deployment, upgrades, and rollback-ready restores.
Authentication provider setup and account lifecycle controls.
Database storage, backups, retention, deletion, and restore testing.
TLS, network exposure, monitoring, uptime, and incident response.
Push notification provider configuration when a self-hosted path requires it.
Secret handling, agent token rotation, and access revocation.