OpenSwitchboard

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Get started ​

By the end, OpenSwitchboard has answered you three times: in your terminal, in Slack, and from a production deployment on Cloudflare.

You need: Node 24 and an Anthropic API key. Part 2 adds a Slack workspace where you may create an app. Part 3 adds a Cloudflare account with a domain in it.

Part 1: an answer in your terminal ​

Install ​

bash
npx @coreplane/switchboard init --organization <org> --anthropic-key <key>

You should see:

wrote to /Users/you/.switchboard:
  .env                  (mode 600)
  config/config.yaml
providers: anthropic
capabilities: execution local · github off · memory off · run history off · …
next:
  npx @coreplane/switchboard ask "what can you do?"
  npx @coreplane/switchboard start
  …

The installation lives in ~/.switchboard, so every later command works from any directory (SWITCHBOARD_HOME puts it elsewhere; a directory that already holds one wins when you run from inside it). .env holds your key and only you can read it; config/config.yaml is the example config with every optional block off. init --help lists every flag.

Ask ​

bash
npx @coreplane/switchboard ask "what can you do?"

You should see status lines (preparing workspace…, preparing the prompt…), then the general agent's answer.

Part 2: an answer in Slack ​

Create the Slack app ​

  1. At api.slack.com/apps: Create New App → From a manifest → paste slack-app-manifest.yaml.
  2. Basic Information → App-Level Tokens → generate one with connections:write. It starts with xapp-.
  3. Install App → Install to Workspace. The Bot User OAuth Token starts with xoxb-.

Add the tokens ​

bash
npx @coreplane/switchboard init --force --organization <org> --anthropic-key <key> --slack-app-token <xapp-token> --slack-bot-token <xoxb-token>

Start the bot ​

bash
npx @coreplane/switchboard start

You should see switchboard running (providers: anthropic; default agent: general). This is the process the production container runs, over Slack's Socket Mode: no port, no Docker. Leave it running.

Say something ​

In Slack, /invite @<your app> into a channel, then:

@<your app> what can you do?

You should see a 👀 reaction, a status card, and the answer in a thread. Reply in the thread without a mention and it answers again.

Part 3: an answer from production ​

Production is the bot as a container on Cloudflare plus a state Worker that keeps state across restarts.

You need: a Cloudflare account, a domain (a zone) in it, and an API token for that account in CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN with the scopes Set up accounts lists. Stop the local bot first (Ctrl-C).

Write the deployment profile ​

bash
npx @coreplane/switchboard init --force --organization <org> --anthropic-key <key> --slack-app-token <xapp-token> --slack-bot-token <xoxb-token> --cloudflare <account id> --zone <zone>

You should see:

wrote to /Users/you/.switchboard:
  .env                  (mode 600) (replaced)
  config/config.yaml
  deploy/profile.json
Worker configs from deploy/profile.json:
  written   .switchboard/deploy/cloudflare-memory/wrangler.jsonc
  written   .switchboard/deploy/cloudflare/wrangler.jsonc
  …

The profile names all four Workers under your zone; this lesson deploys the two required ones.

Point the config at the state Worker ​

Add to config/config.yaml (which --force rewrote):

yaml
runHistory:
  worker:
    baseUrl: https://switchboard-memory.<zone>
runtimeOverrides:
  worker:
    baseUrl: https://switchboard-memory.<zone>

Stage the secrets ​

bash
mkdir -p -m 700 ~/.secrets/switchboard
openssl rand -hex 32 > ~/.secrets/switchboard/MEMORY_TOKEN

Write SLACK_BOT_TOKEN, SLACK_APP_TOKEN and ANTHROPIC_API_KEY there too, one value per file. Then:

bash
npx @coreplane/switchboard deploy secrets memory
npx @coreplane/switchboard deploy secrets bot

Deploy ​

bash
npx @coreplane/switchboard deploy plan --only memory,bot
MEMORY_TOKEN="$(cat ~/.secrets/switchboard/MEMORY_TOKEN)" npx @coreplane/switchboard deploy all --only memory,bot

You should see the plan's Images: registry … 0 of 1 present; deploy all copies the rest, then:

copied into the account registry: bot …
[deploy:all] bot: live (commit <sha>; 45s after the upload)
deployed and live

That copied the release's image into your account, deployed both Workers, and waited until /healthz answered from the new container.

Say something, again ​

Mention the bot in Slack as before; the reply now comes from production.

bash
curl -sS https://switchboard.<zone>/healthz

Next ​