---
title: Getting Started
description: What AKOS is and the three ways to use it — the multi-tenant web app, the self-hosted desktop app, and the akos CLI.
---

AKOS is the operating system for AI agents in production. It lets your team add governed AI agents to any business process — finance, legal, healthcare, marketing, support, operations — and run them supervised, permissioned, and fully audited.

Wherever a person owns a process, AKOS turns that process into a **flow**, the flow drives **agents**, the agents call **tools**, and everything in between is governed: identity, permissions, sandboxing, an egress allowlist, cost tracking, and a signed audit trail.

Three principles shape the product:

- **Works in any industry.** The same engine runs finance, legal, healthcare, marketing, support, operations, and more — each industry is config data (terminology, roles, templates), not a separate build.
- **Use what you already have.** Bring your own models (including local ones via Ollama), your own provider keys, and your existing tools (Slack, GitHub, Stripe, and more). Run it on your own infrastructure if you need to.
- **Bring your automations with you.** Import existing workflows from n8n, LangChain, LangGraph, Langflow, Flowise, and Dify instead of rebuilding them.

See **[Why AKOS](/docs/concepts/philosophy)** for the full philosophy.

## Three ways to use AKOS

AKOS is one product with three surfaces. They share the same workspace, agents, flows, and governance.

| Surface | Best for | How you get in |
|---|---|---|
| **[Web app](/docs/getting-started/web)** | Teams who want nothing to install | Multi-tenant cloud — sign in to your workspace URL |
| **[Desktop app](/docs/getting-started/desktop)** | Private / regulated / air-gapped deployments | Self-hosted desktop application |
| **[CLI](/docs/getting-started/cli)** | Automation, CI, and power users | `akos` command line |

Not sure which to start with? Most teams begin in the **web app** to build and supervise their first flow, then add the **CLI** to automate runs from CI. Regulated environments that require data never to leave their network run the **desktop app** self-hosted.

## Where to go next

- New to the vocabulary? Read **[Concepts](/docs/concepts)** (agents, flows, processes, triggers, architecture).
- Ready to use the product UI? Start with **[Using the App](/docs/using-the-app)**.
- Follow a run end to end? See **[Run lifecycle](/docs/how-it-works/run-lifecycle)**.
- Automating from your terminal or CI? See the **[CLI Guide](/docs/cli)**.
- Coming from another tool? See **[Migrating to AKOS](/docs/cli/migrating)**.