> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getbindu.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Quickstart > Six steps - one question, one agent, one streaming response. This chapter has six steps. Follow them in order. *** ## Step 1 - What you need You need two things before starting. You may already have them; skim and decide. The gateway is TypeScript; we run it with `tsx`, no separate build step. Paid proxy to dozens of models. The gateway uses it for the planner LLM. ```bash theme={null} node --version # should print v22.x or higher ``` Sign up at [openrouter.ai](https://openrouter.ai), add a few dollars of credit, and copy the key from the *API* section. It looks like `sk-or-v1-`. **No database required.** The gateway is **stateless** — it holds per-request state in memory for the lifetime of each `/plan` call and drops it when the call ends. The calling client owns durable history: pass prior turns in the `history` field and the latest compaction summary in `prior_summary` on the next call. Old releases required Supabase; that's gone. *** ## Step 2 - Get the code and install ```bash theme={null} git clone https://github.com/GetBindu/Bindu cd Bindu # Python side - runs the small sample agents we'll call uv sync --dev --extra agents # TypeScript side - runs the gateway cd gateway npm install cd .. ``` The `uv sync` line uses [uv](https://github.com/astral-sh/uv), a fast Python package manager. If you don't have it: ```bash theme={null} curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh ``` *** ## Step 3 - Configure the gateway Create `gateway/.env.local` from the template: ```bash theme={null} cp gateway/.env.example gateway/.env.local ``` Open it in an editor. Fill in: ```bash gateway/.env.local theme={null} # One bearer token the caller must send to talk to the gateway. # Generate a strong one: # openssl rand -base64 32 | tr -d '=' | tr '+/' '-_' # Paste the output here: GATEWAY_API_KEY= # The planner AI OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1- # Gateway listens here (these are optional — defaults shown) GATEWAY_PORT=3774 GATEWAY_HOSTNAME=0.0.0.0 ``` And `examples/.env` (used by the sample Python agents - the file already exists, you just add the key): ```bash examples/.env theme={null} OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1- ``` **What's a "bearer token"?** Think of `GATEWAY_API_KEY` like the password on a movie ticket booth. Whoever holds this string can ask the gateway to do work on their behalf. The gateway checks it on every request by hashing both sides and comparing the hashes in constant time (so neither a timing nor a length attack can recover the token). Don't paste it into chat apps or commit it to a public repo. Rotate it when you suspect it leaked. You may notice old `SUPABASE_URL` / `SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY` lines in `.env.example`. Leave them blank — the gateway no longer reads them. See [`gateway/src/config/loader.ts:110`](https://github.com/GetBindu/Bindu/blob/main/gateway/src/config/loader.ts#L110) for the explicit removal note in the code. *** ## Step 4 - Start one agent Open a terminal. Start the joke agent — one Python file that answers with jokes. We pin the port to 3773 with `BINDU_PORT` so it matches the next chapter's fleet layout (the file's own default is 5773): ```bash theme={null} BINDU_PORT=3773 uv run python examples/gateway_test_fleet/joke_agent.py ``` The boot prints a block of `bindufy` setup logs. The last line you should see is: ``` INFO bindu.utils.server_runner: Starting uvicorn server at http://0.0.0.0:3773... INFO bindu.utils.server_runner: Press Ctrl+C to stop the server gracefully INFO: Uvicorn running on http://0.0.0.0:3773 (Press CTRL+C to quit) ``` Leave that terminal running. *** ## Step 5 - Start the gateway In a **second** terminal: ```bash theme={null} cd gateway npm run dev ``` Expected output: ``` [bindu-gateway] no DID identity configured (set BINDU_GATEWAY_DID_SEED, _AUTHOR, _NAME to enable did_signed peer auth) [bindu-gateway] listening on http://0.0.0.0:3774 [bindu-gateway] session mode: stateless ``` The *"no DID identity configured"* line is expected for now. The [DID signing chapter](/bindu/gateway/identity) turns on cryptographic signing. `session mode: stateless` is the only mode in the current gateway — the `mode` field is kept on the schema for forward-compat but `stateful` is rejected at boot. Leave this terminal running too. *** ## Step 6 - Ask a question In a **third** terminal, load your gateway token into the shell so you don't have to copy-paste it every time: ```bash theme={null} set -a && source gateway/.env.local && set +a ``` Now send the request: ```bash theme={null} curl -N http://localhost:3774/plan \ -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GATEWAY_API_KEY}" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "question": "Tell me a joke about databases.", "agents": [ { "name": "joke", "endpoint": "http://localhost:3773", "auth": { "type": "none" }, "skills": [{ "id": "tell_joke", "description": "Tell a joke" }] } ] }' ``` The `-N` flag tells curl not to buffer - you'll see output appear one line at a time over about 5 seconds. Expected stream (a few fields like `agent_did`, `agent_did_source`, and `signatures` are elided for readability — they're documented in the [Gateway API reference](/gateway-api/introduction)): ``` event: session data: {"session_id":"8f3c4a1e-...","external_session_id":null,"created":true} event: plan data: {"plan_id":"b21e7c98-...","session_id":"8f3c4a1e-..."} event: task.started data: {"task_id":"call_01H...","agent":"joke","skill":"tell_joke","input":{"input":"Tell me a joke about databases."}} event: task.artifact data: {"task_id":"call_01H...","agent":"joke","content":"Why did the database admin break up? Because they had too many relationships!"} event: task.finished data: {"task_id":"call_01H...","agent":"joke","state":"completed"} event: text.delta data: {"session_id":"8f3c4a1e-...","part_id":"c9d2f60a-...","delta":"Here"} event: text.delta data: {"session_id":"8f3c4a1e-...","part_id":"c9d2f60a-...","delta":"'s a joke..."} ... (many more deltas) ... event: final data: {"session_id":"8f3c4a1e-...","stop_reason":"stop","usage":{"inputTokens":1130,"outputTokens":52,"totalTokens":1182,"cachedInputTokens":0}} event: done data: {} ``` **You made a plan.** 🎉 *** ## Reading the output line by line That format is called **Server-Sent Events** (SSE). It's plain HTTP, but the server keeps the connection open and writes events one at a time instead of sending one big response at the end. Two parts per event: a label (`event: session`) and a JSON payload (`data: {...}`). What each event means, in the order they arrived: | # | Event | What it means | | - | ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1 | `session` | The gateway opened an in-memory session for this `/plan` call. `session_id` is a per-call handle; `external_session_id` echoes whatever the client sent (or `null`). Since the gateway is stateless, this id is *not* a resumption key — to give the planner context across requests, pass prior turns via the `history` field on each call. | | 2 | `plan` | The planner started its first turn. | | 3 | `task.started` | The planner decided to call the joke agent. `input: {input: "..."}` is what it's sending. | | 4 | `task.artifact` | The agent replied. The text inside `` is the real answer. That envelope is there so the planner (and you) remember this is *untrusted* data. The `verified` attribute takes one of four values — `yes`, `no`, `unsigned`, `unknown` — and is `unknown` here because the request didn't ask the gateway to verify peer signatures. Verification is opt-in per peer via the agent's `trust.verifyDID: true` flag (with an optional `trust.pinnedDID`) — it is **independent of `auth.type`**, which controls how the gateway authenticates outbound to the peer. Once `trust.verifyDID` is on, the label becomes `yes` (signed and verified), `no` (signature mismatch), or `unsigned` (the peer didn't sign). | | 5 | `task.finished` | That call is complete. | | 6 | `text.delta` (many) | The planner is now writing its own final answer, streamed a word or two at a time. Concatenate them in order (they all share a `part_id`). | | 7 | `final` | Done. `stop_reason: "stop"` means "natural end". `usage` reports token counts for billing. | | 8 | `done` | Last event. Close the connection. | You may also see one more event on long conversations: | Event | When | Meaning | | -------------------- | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | `compaction-summary` | Mid-stream, zero or one per call | The planner ran out of context window, compacted history into a summary. Persist the `summary` field client-side and ship it back as `prior_summary` on the next `/plan` call. | *** ## What's actually running You now have three things talking to each other: ```mermaid theme={null} flowchart LR subgraph Client A[curl] end subgraph Gateway B[Bindu Gateway
in-memory state] end subgraph Services C[OpenRouter] end subgraph Agent E[joke_agent.py] end A -->|POST /plan| B B -->|SSE stream| A B -->|Planner LLM| C B -->|A2A| E ``` The gateway is a **coordinator**. It doesn't answer the question itself; it picks an agent, sends the question, gets the reply, writes a final summary using its own planner LLM. It also doesn't persist anything — when the `/plan` call ends, the session is gone. If this is the moment the idea clicks - great. Next we'll add a second agent so the gateway has a real choice to make: **[Adding a second agent →](/bindu/gateway/multi-agent)** Sunflower Logo Gateway is stateless -{" "} the client owns history.