Company Agents is local-first. The default deployment is a desktop app on one machine, with everything in ~/.company-agents/ and nothing leaving the box. That is not the only shape, though, and this guide is a map of the others so you can pick the right one before you start installing.

​
The four shapes

​
1. Desktop (default)

A single user on a single machine. Everything runs on that machine: the orchestrator, the PGlite database, the runtime services, the agents. No network exposure, no other users. This is what you get when you open the installer and double-click. It is the right choice if:
  • You are the only person running your company
  • You do not need remote access to the dashboard
  • You are okay with your company being tied to one machine
Start at Local development if you want to run from source, or the installer if you just want to use the built binary.

​
2. Private network

A single host, but reachable from your other devices over a private network (Tailscale, Wireguard, corporate VPN). The orchestrator still owns the database and the runtime services; your other devices just talk to the dashboard over HTTPS on the private network. This is the right choice if:
  • You are the only operator but you want to reach the dashboard from your laptop, phone, or another workstation
  • You do not want to expose anything to the public internet
  • You trust the private network layer
Start at Tailscale private access for a concrete walkthrough.

​
3. Single host, multi-user

A single host running Company Agents, with multiple humans as teammates. Each human has their own login, their own inbox, their own approvals queue. The orchestrator and the database are shared; agents run on the host. This is the right choice if:
  • A small team (2 to 10 humans) shares one machine
  • You have a server you trust and can leave running
  • You do not want to pay the operational cost of a distributed deployment
Deployed via Docker; see Docker.

​
4. Multi-host

Multiple hosts, each running a subset of the agents and the runtime services, with a single shared database and a single orchestrator. The dashboard can run on its own host too. This is the right choice if:
  • You are running more than ~50 concurrent agents
  • Different agents need different hardware (GPU boxes for image agents, CPU boxes for everything else)
  • You need redundancy
This is the advanced case and the shape most small teams will never need. See Deployment modes for the detailed architecture and trade-offs.

​
The deployment decision tree

Start here: 
Are you the only user?
├─ Yes
│  ├─ On one machine? ................ Desktop
│  └─ Across devices? ................ Private network
└─ No
   ├─ Single shared host? ............ Docker single-host
   └─ Multiple hosts? ................ Multi-host
If you are unsure, start at Desktop. Every shape above is an extension of Desktop, not a different product. Moving from one shape to the next is a data migration, not a rebuild.

​
What every shape has in common

Regardless of shape:
  • The database is Postgres (PGlite in-process for desktop, full Postgres for multi-user)
  • Secrets are encrypted with a master key at rest
  • The audit trail is always on
  • Budgets are enforced at the orchestrator layer, not per-host
  • Adapters run locally to the agents they launch (agents cannot jump hosts mid-run)

​
The cloud control plane

We also run a hosted control plane at agents.salesteams.ai. The control plane is for fleet management across multiple installations: a read-only view of all your companies, centralized audit aggregation, and paid-plan billing. The control plane does not run your agents. Agents always run locally, on your hardware. The control plane is a dashboard over top of local installs, not a replacement for them. You do not need the control plane to use Company Agents. The desktop app and the docker image are fully functional standalone.

​
Next

Pick a shape and open the corresponding guide: Then visit: