> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.crewship.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # crewship start > Boot the Crewship server — Go binary, embedded Next.js UI, SQLite-by-default, optional Docker provider. # crewship start Starts the Crewship server. Single Go binary listens on HTTP (default `:8080`), serves the embedded Next.js UI, and connects to a container provider for agent runs. ```bash theme={null} crewship start [flags] ``` ## What happens on start 1. **Configuration resolution.** Reads `--config` if given, else defaults from env (`CREWSHIP_*`) and built-in defaults. 2. **Database open.** Opens SQLite at `~/.crewship/crewship.db` (or `--db` override). Enforces WAL mode, 0600 file perms, foreign keys. 3. **Pre-migration snapshot.** If any migrations are pending, `SnapshotBeforeMigrate` writes a `VACUUM INTO` copy of the live DB to `.pre-migrate-vN-to-vM-.bak` before any DDL runs. See [Backup & Restore — automatic pre-migration snapshots](/guides/backup#automatic-pre-migration-snapshots). 4. **Migrations apply.** Runs every pending migration in `internal/database/migrate.go` order. Collision detection fails loudly if the local DB has a different name applied at a given version. 5. **Telemetry init.** Reads consent from `app_settings`. v0.1 beta default is enabled if no row exists; opt out with `crewship telemetry off`. See [Telemetry](/guides/telemetry). 6. **Update check.** Fires a goroutine that queries the GitHub Releases API (cached 24h in `~/.crewship/cache/`). Prints a banner to stderr if a newer release is available. Skip with `CREWSHIP_SKIP_UPDATE_CHECK=1`. 7. **Providers initialize.** Docker (or whichever container runtime is detected), localfs storage, bbolt state. `--no-docker` skips the container provider — useful for read-only browse mode without running agents. 8. **HTTP server starts.** Binds `0.0.0.0:8080` by default. WebSocket on the same port at `/ws`. IPC socket at `/tmp/crewship.sock`. 9. **First-run welcome.** If post-migration the `users` table is empty AND stdout is a TTY, prints a one-screen banner pointing at the browser onboarding wizard (PR #441). Suppressed on non-TTY so systemd journal / log scrapes stay clean. Query errors warn-and- continue rather than fail the start — a stale or half-migrated DB is already surfaced via the migration log. Boot typically takes 1–3 seconds on a warm machine; first-ever start (empty DB, full migration sweep) takes 5–10 seconds. ## Flags | Flag | Default | Effect | | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `--config ` | `$HOME/.crewship/config.yaml` if present | Path to YAML config. CLI flags override config; config overrides env defaults. | | `--db ` | `file:~/.crewship/crewship.db` | SQLite DSN (`file:...`). PostgreSQL on the v0.2 roadmap. | | `--no-docker` | (off) | Skip the Docker provider init. Useful for read-only browse mode or sandboxed CI. | | `--verbose`, `-v` | (off) | Switch logger to debug. Default is INFO. (Global root flag, available on every command.) | | `--no-color` | (off) | Disable ANSI colors in logs. Auto-detected when stdout is not a TTY. (Global root flag.) | There are **no** `--port`, `--host`, or `--license` flags on `crewship start`. HTTP port and bind address come from config / env only — set `CREWSHIP_PORT` (default `8080`) and bind `0.0.0.0` by default (see the env table below). Licensing is read from config / env, not a command-line flag; without a license, community-edition limits apply (max crews, agents, members). ## Environment variables Beyond the flags above, `crewship start` respects: | Var | Default | Effect | | -------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | `CREWSHIP_PORT` | `8080` | HTTP listen port. (There is no `--port` flag — set it here.) | | `CREWSHIP_SOCKET_PATH` | `/tmp/crewship.sock` | IPC socket for sidecar coordination. | | `CREWSHIP_CONTAINER_NETWORK` | `crewship-agents` | Docker bridge name for agent containers. | | `CREWSHIP_CONTAINER_PROVIDER` | `docker` | `docker`, `apple`, or `auto`. | | `CREWSHIP_STORAGE_PROVIDER` | `localfs` | Where workspace files live. | | `CREWSHIP_STATE_PROVIDER` | `bbolt` | KV store for ephemeral run state. | | `CREWSHIP_SKIP_MIGRATION_BACKUP` | (unset) | Skip pre-migration snapshot. Don't use on machines with valuable data. | | `CREWSHIP_SKIP_UPDATE_CHECK` | (unset) | Skip the daily GitHub Releases API check. | | `CREWSHIP_SENTRY_DSN` | (unset) | Override the vendor-baked Sentry DSN. Route crash reports to your own Sentry instance. See [Telemetry — routing](/guides/telemetry). | | `NEXTAUTH_SECRET` | Auto-generated on first boot | Auth session signing key. If not in env, generated via `crypto/rand` (32 bytes → 64 hex chars) and persisted to `/secrets.env` (mode `0600`). Set explicitly for clustered deployments. | | `ENCRYPTION_KEY` | Auto-generated on first boot | Credential vault AES-256-GCM key. Same auto-gen + persist path as `NEXTAUTH_SECRET`. | As of PR #446, `crewship start` auto-bootstraps `NEXTAUTH_SECRET`, `ENCRYPTION_KEY`, and `CREWSHIP_INTERNAL_TOKEN` on first boot — `curl install.sh | bash → crewship start` works with **no env files to hand-edit**. Subsequent boots read the persisted file. Explicit env vars always win, so Vault / Kubernetes secret mounts / systemd `EnvironmentFile=` keep working unchanged. Run `crewship doctor` to see where each secret lives ("env-provided" vs "auto-managed in ``"). See [Configuration → Environment](/configuration/environment#authentication) for the full bootstrap pipeline. ## Multi-instance setup Crewship can run multiple instances on one host by suffixing the data directory and port. The `dev.sh` script handles this for development; for production, point `--db` and `CREWSHIP_PORT` at distinct paths: ```bash theme={null} CREWSHIP_PORT=8081 crewship start --db file:/opt/crewship-1/crewship.db CREWSHIP_PORT=8082 crewship start --db file:/opt/crewship-2/crewship.db ``` Each instance is fully isolated — separate DB, separate container network (`CREWSHIP_CONTAINER_NETWORK=crewship-agents-1`), separate IPC socket (`CREWSHIP_SOCKET_PATH=/tmp/crewship-1.sock`). ## Graceful shutdown `crewship start` traps `SIGINT` and `SIGTERM`: * Stops accepting new HTTP requests * Finishes in-flight requests up to 30s * Flushes Sentry events (2s timeout) * Closes the database with WAL checkpoint * Closes the docker client Force-kill with `kill -9` if shutdown takes longer than 30s; expect a WAL replay on next boot (SQLite handles it automatically, just slower than a clean shutdown). ## Related * [Quickstart](/quickstart) — 5-minute path from empty machine to first agent run. * [Install](/guides/install) — three install paths and what each gives you. * [Troubleshooting](/guides/troubleshooting) — common boot failures. * [`crewship doctor`](/cli/doctor) — pre-flight diagnostic for `start` problems.