V Vant Docs

Installation

Get Vant up and running in minutes. Choose your preferred method:

Method Best For Time Requirements
NPM Install Quick setup 2 min Node.js 18+
Git Clone Development 5 min Node.js, Git
Docker Production 1 min Docker
AI Agent Self-setup 2 min GitHub token

NPM Install

The fastest way to get started:

# Install globally
npm install -g vant

# Verify installation
vant --version

# Run setup wizard
vant setup

Requirements

Check Node Version

Check your Node version:

node --version
# Should be v18.x.x or higher

If you need to install Node.js, download it here or use a version manager:

# Using nvm (macOS/Linux)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash
nvm install 18
nvm use 18

# Using nvm-windows
winget install nvm
nvm install 18
nvm use 18

Git Clone

For development or contributing:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/dhaupin/vant.git
cd vant

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run the setup wizard
node bin/vant.js setup

# Verify everything works
node bin/vant.js health

What’s Included

vant/
├── bin/          # CLI executables
├── lib/          # Core modules
├── models/       # Brain files
├── docs/         # Documentation
└── package.json  # Dependencies

Update Later

cd vant
git pull origin main
npm install

Docker

Quick Start

# Pull the image
docker pull dhaupin/vant

# Run with environment variables
docker run -it \
  -e GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token \
  -e GITHUB_REPO=owner/repo \
  dhaupin/vant vant start

With Config File

# Create config locally
cp config.example.ini config.ini
# Edit config.ini with your values

# Mount config and brain
docker run -it \
  -v $(pwd)/config.ini:/app/config.ini \
  -v $(pwd)/models:/app/models \
  dhaupin/vant vant start

Docker Compose

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'
services:
  vant:
    image: dhaupin/vant
    environment:
      - GITHUB_TOKEN=${GITHUB_TOKEN}
      - GITHUB_REPO=${GITHUB_REPO}
    volumes:
      - vant-brain:/app/models
    restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
  vant-brain:

# Start
docker-compose up -d

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

# Stop
docker-compose down

Build Locally

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/dhaupin/vant.git
cd vant
docker build -t my-vant .

# Run
docker run -it -e GITHUB_TOKEN=xxx my-vant vant start

AI Agent Setup

For AI agents that need to self-configure:

# Set required environment variables
export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxx
export GITHUB_REPO=your-username/your-brain-repo

# Auto-install and run
npm install -g vant && vant start --ai

The --ai flag skips interactive prompts and uses environment variables directly.

One-Click Setup Prompt

For AI agents, copy this prompt to set up Vant automatically:

### Vant Setup

Set up Vant (https://github.com/dhaupin/vant) as my persistent brain.

Steps to run:
- Clone: git clone https://github.com/dhaupin/vant.git && cd vant
- Configure: cp config.example.ini config.ini && cp .env.example .env
- Edit config.ini with GITHUB_REPO=your-username/your-repo
- Add GITHUB_TOKEN to .env
- Test: node bin/build-test.js
- Start: node bin/vant.js start

Environment Variables

Variable Required Description
GITHUB_TOKEN Yes GitHub Personal Access Token
GITHUB_REPO Yes Brain repository (owner/name)
GITHUB_BRANCH No Branch name (default: main)
VANT_AGENT_ID No Agent identifier for multi-agent

For AI Agents (Quick Prompt)

Give this to your AI agent to self-configure:

“Set up Vant (https://github.com/dhaupin/vant) as my persistent brain. Clone the repo, configure it with GITHUB_REPO and GITHUB_TOKEN, then run vant start to begin.”

See also: Quick Start

Verify Installation

After installation, verify everything works:

# Check version
vant --version

# Run health check
vant health

# Load brain
vant load

# Test sync
vant sync

You should see output like:

✅ Vant v0.8.4
✅ Config loaded
✅ GitHub connected
✅ Brain files present (19 files)

Troubleshooting

“vant: command not found”

# Reinstall globally
npm uninstall -g vant
npm install -g vant

# Check npm prefix
npm config get prefix
# Should be something like /usr/local

“EACCES permission denied”

# Fix npm permissions
mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH

# Or use nvm
nvm install 18
nvm use 18
npm install -g vant

“Node version too old”

# Update Node.js
# macOS/Linux
nvm install 18
nvm use 18

# Windows
winget install nvm
nvm install 18
nvm use 18

“GitHub connection failed”

  1. Verify GITHUB_TOKEN is valid
  2. Check token has repo scope
  3. Verify GITHUB_REPO exists and is accessible
  4. Run vant health for diagnostics

Docker Issues

# Clean up and retry
docker system prune -a
docker pull dhaupin/vant

# Check if container starts
docker run -it dhaupin/vant vant health

Next Steps