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19 changes: 8 additions & 11 deletions docs/agents/overview.mdx
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Expand Up @@ -3,16 +3,13 @@ title: "Agents overview"
description: "The `insta` skill, the MCP server, and the governance model for agents."
---

InstaCloud is agent-native: the stack is designed so that everything you can do in the console, an agent can do through the `insta` CLI or an MCP tool call. This page covers how agents connect, and the two rules that keep them productive without handing them production.
InstaCloud is agent-native: the stack is designed so that everything you can do in the console, an agent can do through the `insta` CLI or an MCP tool call. These are the pieces that make it true:

Agents reach the platform two ways, both hitting the same API under the same governance:
- **[Agent setup](/agents/setup).** One command, `insta setup agent`, installs the skill and registers the MCP server for the agents on your machine.
- **[The `insta` skill](/agents/skills).** Teaches terminal agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and others) the workflow: check `insta status`, work on a branch, pull secrets through the seam, deploy, relay approval requests.
- **[MCP server](/agents/mcp-server).** `https://mcp.instacloud.com/mcp` exposes the `insta_*` toolset ([reference](/reference/mcp-tools)) over streamable HTTP, authenticated with OAuth or an `insta_` API token. Explicit `projectId` and `branch` arguments let an agent operate on any project its token can see, no linked directory required.
- **[One branch per task](/agents/branch-per-task).** An agent task gets its own branch: its own database with real data, its own storage, its own compute URL. Mistakes stay on the branch and get deleted with it.
- **[Gated actions](/reference/gated-actions).** A gated action returns an approval ID instead of executing; a human admin approves or denies, and grants are single-use and audited. Set the policy before the agent starts: `insta policy set project.delete approve`.
- **[Observe hook](/reference/cli/overview#observe).** Linking a repo (`insta project create` or `insta project link`) adds a credential audit on agent tool calls that writes findings to `.insta/audit.jsonl`.

- **CLI + skill.** Terminal agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and others) run the `insta` CLI directly. The `insta` skill teaches the workflow: check `insta status`, work on a branch, pull secrets through the seam, deploy, and relay approval requests instead of working around them.
- **MCP server.** `https://mcp.instacloud.com/mcp` exposes the `insta_*` toolset ([reference](/reference/mcp-tools)) over streamable HTTP, authenticated with OAuth or an `insta_` API token. Tools take explicit `projectId` and `branch` arguments, so an agent can operate on any project its token can see, no linked directory required.

Use whichever fits the agent; mixing them is fine. Two things are the design, not advice:

1. **Isolation by branch.** An agent task gets its own branch: its own database with real data, its own storage, its own compute URL. Mistakes are contained and disposable.
2. **Approval for the irreversible.** A gated action returns an approval ID instead of executing; a human admin approves or denies, and grants are single-use and audited. The agent can only ask. Gating is opt-in, so set the policy (`insta policy set project.delete approve`) before the agent starts.

[`insta setup agent`](/agents/setup) installs the skill and registers the MCP server for every agent on the machine. Linking a repo (`insta project create` or `insta project link`) adds the observe hook, a credential audit that writes findings to `.insta/audit.jsonl`.
Mix CLI and MCP freely; both hit the same API under the same governance.
3 changes: 1 addition & 2 deletions docs/docs.json
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Expand Up @@ -95,8 +95,7 @@
"agents/setup",
"agents/mcp-server",
"agents/skills",
"agents/branch-per-task",
"governance/overview"
"agents/branch-per-task"
]
},
{
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion docs/introduction.mdx
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Expand Up @@ -39,6 +39,6 @@ InstaCloud provides the three basic primitives, rebuilt on those terms: **databa
You complete the one-time login; the agent drives the rest. The result is a running app on its own URL, with its database connection injected. Under the hood the agent runs the [insta CLI](/reference/cli/overview), which you can also drive by hand.
</Step>
<Step title="Keep going">
The [quickstart](/quickstart) walks through each step, including your first branch; [agent setup](/agents/setup) covers what the agent wiring installs. From there, the primitives: [Postgres](/postgres/overview), [storage](/storage/overview), and [compute](/compute/overview), plus [governance](/governance/overview) to gate what an agent can do on its own.
The [quickstart](/quickstart) walks through each step, including your first branch; [agent setup](/agents/setup) covers what the agent wiring installs. From there, the primitives: [Postgres](/postgres/overview), [storage](/storage/overview), and [compute](/compute/overview).
</Step>
</Steps>
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