Getting Started

RootCX Studio is the native desktop app where you build, deploy, and manage your apps and AI agents. Everything starts here.

1. Download Studio

Download the latest version of RootCX Studio for your platform:

Install and open Studio. On first launch, you'll see a welcome screen with two options: Run locally or Connect to a server.

2. Connect to a Core

RootCX Studio needs a running RootCX Core instance to work. Core is the Rust daemon that powers everything: database, authentication, RBAC, APIs, backend processes, and AI runtime.

Option A: RootCX Cloud (fastest)

A managed Core instance is provisioned for you in seconds, with nothing to install.

1. Sign up at rootcx.com/app/register.
2. Create a project. Give it a name and hit Launch Project. Provisioning takes about two minutes.
3. Once your project is active, the dashboard shows your API URL and credentials.
4. Copy the API URL, open Studio, select Connect to a server, and paste the URL.

Option B: Run locally with Git

Clone the repo and start everything with Docker Compose.

Prerequisites: Git and Docker Desktop must be installed.

git clone https://github.com/RootCX/RootCX.git
cd RootCX
docker compose up -d

This starts a PostgreSQL database and the RootCX Core. Once healthy, your Core is running at http://localhost:9100.

Option C: Run locally with Docker

If you prefer not to clone the repo, run the two containers directly.

# Create a network so the containers can communicate
docker network create rootcx

# Start PostgreSQL
docker run -d \
  --name rootcx-postgres \
  --network rootcx \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=rootcx \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=rootcx \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=rootcx \
  -e PGDATA=/data/pgdata \
  -v rootcx-pgdata:/data \
  ghcr.io/rootcx/postgresql:16-pgmq

# Start the Core
docker run -d \
  --name rootcx-core \
  --network rootcx \
  -e DATABASE_URL=postgres://rootcx:rootcx@rootcx-postgres:5432/rootcx \
  -p 9100:9100 \
  -v rootcx-data:/data \
  ghcr.io/rootcx/core:latest

Your Core is running at http://localhost:9100.

3. Build your first app

Once connected to a Core, you're ready to build.

1. Open AI Forge. Click the Forge panel on the left sidebar.

2. Describe what you want. Type a plain-language prompt. For example:

   "A task tracker where I can create tasks with a title, description, status (todo, in-progress, done), and due date."

   AI Forge generates the full source code -- entities, backend logic, and frontend components. You have complete control over the code and can edit it at any time.

3. Hit Run (F5). Studio deploys everything to your Core.

Your app is now live. Open it in the browser at https://<your-ref>.rootcx.com/apps/<appId>/ (cloud) or http://localhost:9100/apps/<appId>/ (local).

What happens on Run

When you press F5, Studio executes a pipeline against your Core:

1. Schema verify -- validates the manifest before applying changes.
2. Manifest sync -- registers (or updates) the application, its entities, fields, and permission keys.
3. Install dependencies -- runs bun install if a package.json is present.
4. Deploy backend -- uploads and starts the backend worker under the Core's process supervisor.
5. Publish frontend -- uploads the pre-built static assets to the Core, which serves them at /apps/{appId}/.

Each step logs output to the Studio console in real time. If any step fails, the error is shown immediately.

All of this is repeatable. Change the manifest or code, hit Run again, and Core applies the diff.

Next Steps

• Build an Application -- the full reference for manifests, backends, and frontends.
• Build an AI Agent -- create autonomous AI agents that run on your Core.
• Managing Data -- understand entities, fields, and relationships.