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

# Run it locally

> From zero to a live incident on a real kind cluster.

**Prerequisites:** Docker, `kind`, `kubectl`, `uv`, Node 20+.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Stand up the sandbox cluster">
    A local `kind` cluster with two namespaces — `backstop-naive` and `backstop-hardened` — each running a `checkout` deployment and a protected `prod-db`.

    ```bash theme={null}
    kind create cluster --name backstop
    for ns in backstop-naive backstop-hardened; do
      kubectl create namespace "$ns"
      kubectl apply -n "$ns" -f backend/k8s/app.yaml
    done
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the backend (uv)">
    Three services: the run API, the custom guardrail endpoints, and the read-only infra MCP server.

    ```bash theme={null}
    cd backend
    cp .env.example .env        # fill in gateway + Bedrock config
    uv sync
    uv run uvicorn backstop.api:app --port 8033
    uv run uvicorn backstop.guardrails.server:app --port 8133
    uv run python -m backstop.infra_mcp
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the frontend (npm)">
    ```bash theme={null}
    cd frontend && npm install && npm run dev   # http://localhost:3033/run
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Trigger an incident">
    Open the console, hit **Trigger incident**, and watch the two agents diverge — the naive one takes `prod-db` to zero, Backstop catches the bad output, re-routes, and heals to `error_rate = 0.0`.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Key env flags

| Flag                      | Effect                                                                              |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `BACKSTOP_LIVE=true`      | Use the live model on the gateway for re-diagnosis on the re-route and recovery.    |
| `BACKSTOP_LLM_JUDGE=true` | Enable the independent LLM-as-judge in the quality gate.                            |
| `BACKSTOP_BACKEND=kind`   | Drive the real `kind` cluster (the `K8sBackend`) instead of the deterministic mock. |

<Tip>
  Run the test suite with `cd backend && uv run pytest` — 60 passing in \~2s, fully network-isolated.
</Tip>