> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.flintai.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Add a server

> Let Switch Console run a server for you, or point it at one that already exists

A Switch server is what rooms and agents live on. Everything else depends on one
existing, which is why this is the first step on the checklist — and you don't
have to install a server to get one.

In the sidebar, expand **Servers** and select the add button. Switch Console asks
how the server should run.

| Option                            | Choose it when                                                                                                                     |
| --------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Run a server on this computer** | You're setting Switch up on your own machine and want it working quickly                                                           |
| **Connect to an existing server** | Somebody has already set Switch up for your team                                                                                   |
| **Run a server on a remote host** | The server has to stay up when you close Switch Console. See [Host remotely or in the cloud](/flintai/switch/deploy/host-remotely) |

Most first-time setups take one of the first two. The remote option needs a host
onboarded over SSH before it will work, so it lives on its own page.

## Run a server on this computer

The fastest way to see Switch working. **Docker has to be installed and running**
before you start, since that is what Switch Console uses to bring the stack up.

You never configure what it starts. The server comes up with a messaging app and
the Gateway both switched on, picks ports that are free, keeps them bound to this
machine, seeds an administrator, and signs Switch Console in — so there's no URL
to copy and no secret to type.

The tradeoff is lifetime. This server belongs to your machine, so it isn't
somewhere colleagues can join you. Moving to a server they can reach later does
not cost you this setup.

## Connect to an existing server

The right choice if you're joining a team that already runs Switch. Nothing is
installed on your machine.

<Warning>
  This asks for **two** addresses, not one. Both are required and both are checked
  separately, so a wrong value in either fails on its own — and the two are easy to
  confuse because they usually differ only in port or path.

  * The **Gateway URL** is the admin surface
  * The **API URL** is what Switch Console talks to

  Get both from whoever runs the server rather than guessing the second from the
  first.
</Warning>

If the form rejects one of them, the error names the field it rejected. Treat that
as which address is wrong rather than as the server being unreachable — see
[Troubleshooting](/flintai/switch/resources/troubleshooting).

## Confirm it worked

The server appears under **Servers** with a status dot beside its name, and
**Agents** and **Rooms** tabs appear beneath it. It's ready when the dot is
green.

<Note>
  This step ticks because a server exists, not because you completed the form.
  Remove the server and it un-ticks itself. That holds for every step on the
  checklist, which is why none of them can be marked done early.
</Note>

## Next

Tell Switch which agent runtimes it's allowed to start:
[Set up agent providers](/flintai/switch/getting-started/set-up-agent-providers).