Install AIDA on Your Server

A complete guide to getting AIDA running — from picking a server to your first conversation. No experience needed.

Try on Your Computer

You can run AIDA on your Windows or Mac computer before setting up a server. It takes about 5 minutes and is completely free.

This is a great way to explore AIDA — chat, Knowledge Base, Skills, Plugins, and integrations — without renting a server first.

Step 1 — Install Docker Desktop

Docker Desktop is a free app that lets your computer run AIDA. It is free for businesses with fewer than 250 employees.

Windows: Go to docker.com/products/docker-desktop — click Download for Windows, run the installer, and restart your computer when prompted.

Mac: Go to docker.com/products/docker-desktop — click Download for Mac. Choose Apple Chip for M1/M2/M3/M4, or Intel Chip for older Macs. Drag Docker to Applications and open it.

Wait until Docker Desktop shows Engine running (green icon in the system tray or menu bar).

Step 2 — Start AIDA

Open a terminal (Windows: PowerShell, Mac: Terminal) and paste this command:

docker run -d --name aida -p 3000:3000 ghcr.io/autafyai-code/aida:latest

The first time, it downloads AIDA (~1 GB). This takes a few minutes. After that, AIDA starts in seconds.

Step 3 — Open AIDA

Open your browser and go to:

http://localhost:3000

You will see the setup wizard. Create your admin account, enter your email, and your 7-day free trial starts automatically.

Step 4 — Add an AI Provider

AIDA works with any AI provider — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or local models like Ollama. We recommend OpenRouter because one API key gives you access to hundreds of models. Create a free account, copy your API key, and paste it in AIDA under Settings.

Useful commands

Stop AIDA: docker stop aida

Start AIDA again: docker start aida

Update to latest version:

docker stop aida && docker rm aida
docker pull ghcr.io/autafyai-code/aida:latest
docker run -d --name aida -p 3000:3000 ghcr.io/autafyai-code/aida:latest

Ready for 24/7?

When you are ready to run AIDA around the clock, follow the server setup guide below. A $5–7/month VPS is all you need. Your license key works on both your computer and your server (one at a time).

Requirements

Before you install, make sure you have the following. If any of this is unfamiliar, skip to Get a VPS — we'll walk you through it.

Get a VPS (Virtual Private Server)

AIDA runs on a VPS — a small computer in the cloud that stays on 24/7. Think of it like renting a dedicated machine for your AI agent. You pay monthly, usually $6–$14 CAD, and you own everything on it.

We recommend any of these providers. All work with AIDA out of the box:

Step-by-step: Create a VPS on DigitalOcean

If you've never done this before, follow these steps. Other providers work similarly.

Run the Installer

Once you're connected to your server via SSH, you're ready to install AIDA. The install script handles everything automatically — Docker, image download, startup, and health check.

The install command

Copy and paste this single command into your server's terminal, then press Enter:

curl -fsSL https://autafy.ca/aida-install.sh | sudo bash

By installing AIDA, you agree to our Terms of Service.

The script will walk you through the rest. Here's what it does automatically:

After the Installer Finishes

When the installer completes, it will print something like:

✓ AIDA is running at http://143.198.112.45:3000
  Open that URL in your browser to complete setup.

Open that URL in your browser. You'll see the Setup Wizard — the next section walks you through it.

Setup Wizard

The first time you open AIDA, you'll be guided through a two-step setup wizard. This only runs once.

After the wizard completes, you'll be taken to the login page. Sign in with the credentials you just created.

Add Your AI API Key

AIDA is a frontend for AI models — it needs an API key to talk to them. You bring your own key, which means you're billed directly by the AI provider at their rates (usually fractions of a cent per message).

We recommend OpenRouter — one key gives you access to every major AI model (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Llama, and more) in one place.

Get an OpenRouter API key (free, takes 2 minutes)

Set Up HTTPS (Optional but Recommended)

By default AIDA is accessible over plain http://. This is fine for personal use, but if you want a clean domain URL and the padlock icon in your browser, you'll need a domain name and HTTPS.

What you need

A domain name pointed at your server's IP address. You can buy a domain from Namecheap or Cloudflare Registrar. A .com costs about $15 CAD/year.

Point your domain at your server

Log into your domain registrar, find DNS settings, and add an A record:

DNS changes take 5 – 30 minutes to propagate. You can check at dnschecker.org.

Install Caddy (the web server)

Run these commands on your server one at a time:

sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install caddy

sudo nano /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Replace the contents with this (swap aida.yourdomain.com for your actual domain):

aida.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

Save with Ctrl+O, then Ctrl+X to exit. Then restart Caddy:

sudo systemctl reload caddy

Caddy automatically fetches an SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt. Within 60 seconds, https://aida.yourdomain.com should load AIDA with a valid HTTPS certificate.

Troubleshooting

Support

If you're stuck on anything not covered here, we're happy to help.