P-004 · RINGMASTEROPERATED BY LUNA TECH LLC · SEATTLE, WAHOST · RINGMASTER.LUNA-TECH.CO
GETTING STARTED

Quick start

Ringmaster runs AI-assisted work as a structured pipeline instead of a chat. You define a workflow, run its stages across the agents you choose, review what comes back, and keep a complete record of how each result was produced. This guide takes you from a fresh install to your first reviewed artifact in a few minutes.

Before you start

You'll need a Mac running macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later on Apple silicon, and at least one way to run a model. The fastest way to try Ringmaster with zero setup is a local model server like LM Studio or Ollama: nothing to configure, no API key, and your prompts never leave the machine. If you'd rather use a CLI agent you already have installed (Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Gemini, Kiro), that works too. See Providers & runtimes for the full list.

1. Install and launch

Download the latest signed build from your portal at ringmaster.luna-tech.co, open the disk image, and drag Ringmaster to your Applications folder. The first time you open it, macOS will ask you to confirm; that's expected for a notarized app downloaded outside the App Store. Full detail is in Installation & licensing.

2. Activate your license

The first time you open Ringmaster on a Mac that isn't licensed yet, it offers to activate right from the launcher: an Activate Ringmaster panel opens on its own, and a banner with Sign In & Activate stays on the launcher until this Mac is licensed. You can also reach the same flow any time from Settings → License.

Sign in with the email and password for your account; if you have two-factor turned on, you'll be asked for a code. Your password is never stored on the device. Once you're signed in, you'll see the licenses on your account. Click Activate This Device on the one you want to use here. That's it. Ringmaster caches a signed license token locally, so it keeps working offline and doesn't phone home on every launch.

You don't strictly need a license to follow this guide. Single-agent runs, validation, review, and replay are always available. A license unlocks the multi-agent modes (parallel, race, consensus, specialist), advanced metrics, and report export.

3. Open a workspace

A workspace is just a folder on your Mac, usually a project or repository you're working in. Ringmaster stores its runs and history inside that folder, in a .ring directory, so everything stays next to the work it describes.

Choose File → Open Workspace… and pick a folder. A scratch directory is fine for now. Your workspace opens on a Default project that holds all its runs; later, when you have several lines of work going at once, you can add more projects to keep their run histories separate (see Projects).

4. Run your first stage

Ringmaster ships with thirteen built-in workflows, ordered in the Workflows list from simplest to most advanced — from Single Prompt at the top, through everyday drivers like Code Review and Plan & Implement, up to multi-agent showcases like Consensus Review and Race Answer. Start with the first one: Single Prompt is one stage, works with any runtime, and shows the whole run–review loop in miniature. Pick it and click New Run. A workflow is made of stages; each stage sends a prompt to a runtime and collects whatever files it produces.

Select the first stage and choose its runtime; if you started LM Studio or Ollama, pick that. Run the stage (⌘R). Output streams in live in the Runtime Output drawer, and when it finishes you get an attempt: one complete execution of that stage, numbered and kept on disk.

Not happy with the result? Run it again. Each run is a new attempt; nothing is overwritten, and you can compare them later.

5. Review and promote

Most stages pause at a review gate when they finish; Ringmaster doesn't advance on your behalf at the points that matter. Read the attempt, and when one is good, approve and promote it. Promotion marks that attempt's output as the canonical artifact for the stage, which is what any downstream stage will consume.

That human checkpoint is the whole point: the model generates, you decide.

6. Find your artifact

Promoted artifacts live in the Artifacts browser, and on disk under your workspace's .ring/runs/ directory. Every artifact carries its full provenance: which workflow version, which runtime and model, the exact prompt, the inputs it consumed, and your review decision. You can open Show Provenance on any artifact to see all of it, or export a report (see Provenance, reports & metrics).

Where to next