Quick Start Guide
Set up a Theseus node and deploy your first agent.
Playground (browser IDE, hosted testnet)
Sign in, get a faucet-funded custodial wallet, edit THESEUS.md, hit Deploy. No install. Live and open on the hosted testnet.
Local CLI (build from source)
Run your own Theseus node, compile agents with the theseus CLI, deploy via extrinsic. The repository is currently private; request access first. Everything below this card walks Path B.
Prerequisites
Installation
Clone the Repository (preview-access devs)
# The repository URL is provided with preview access. # Replace <preview-clone-url> with the value from your invite. git clone <preview-clone-url> theseus cd theseus
Install Tooling and Build
# Install development dependencies make install-dev # Build the project make build
Run a Local Node
# Start via Makefile make node # Equivalent cargo command cargo run --bin theseus-node
Your node will start syncing with the network. First sync may take time depending on network conditions.
Deploy Your First Agent
An agent is a directory: a THESEUS.md (Markdown body with YAML frontmatter) plus optional skills/<name>/SKILL.md siblings. The repo ships a working example at theseus-chain/examples/hello-agent/. Compile it with its bundled binary, then submit via the Theseus CLI.
# Compile the example agent → produces hello.compiled cargo run -p hello-agent # Submit to chain (signs with the configured account) theseus agent deploy hello.compiled --name "Hello"
theseus agent deploy takes the compiled SCALE-encoded CompiledAgent blob and submits the pallet_agents::register_ship_agent extrinsic. The chain funds the new agent's account with the value you provide (--value, defaults to the existential deposit). The agent's SS58 address is returned in the output.
Ecosystem Examples
| CLI arg | Description |
|---|---|
<file> | Path to the compiled .compiled SCALE blob produced by the agent's bundled binary. |
--name | Display name recorded on chain. Optional; defaults to the name field from THESEUS.md. |
--salt | Hex-encoded salt used for SS58 address derivation. Optional; lets you re-deploy the same code to a different address. |
--value | Initial THE funding for the agent's account (default 1000000000 = 1 MILLI_UNIT, the existential deposit). Top up later if the agent spends THE on its own operations. |
Model Registration (API-Level)
Model registration currently appears in the codebase as runtime API flows (AIVM + store), not as a stable, documented one-line CLI command.
Model weights + metadata
↓
Store in TheseusStore
↓
Reference model root from agent/AIVM execution| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Name/version | Llama 3.1 8B |
| Architecture | LLM, diffusion, etc. |
| Tensor Commit | Weight fingerprint for verification |
| Root reference | Used by agents during inference calls |
Development Workflow
Running Tests
# Run full test suite make test # Component-specific targets make test-aivm make test-consensus make test-store make test-tensor make test-ship
Next Steps
Need help? Email eric@theseus.network, or read the whitepaper. Once you have preview access, the invite includes upstream command references and the docs/getting-started.md file.