This quickstart gets one provisioned machine to a local OpenAI-compatible chat request. Your machine arrives with the host agent already installed and set up by B3IQ. You claim it, create a scoped local key, and call it. Use it when you want local inference working before you think about earning or hosted gateway access.

Your machine arrives provisioned

B3IQ installs and supervises the host agent on the machines it hosts and ships, so there is nothing to download or install yourself. The host agent serves the local command panel and local inference APIs on http://127.0.0.1:8831. Setup tokens, owner sessions, and local API keys are powerful local credentials, so treat them accordingly.

Claim the node

1

Open the local command panel

Open the local command panel the host agent serves on your machine. If you need a fresh tokenized URL from the machine, run:

bash
b3iq-host wizard url --with-token
2

Review inventory

The wizard reads hardware, OS, runtime, model, and network posture from the host agent. Browser GPU checks are advisory only; the host agent is the source of truth.

3

Choose mode

Start with Local Mode unless you are intentionally enrolling the machine into managed or network workflows. Enrolling a new machine into managed mode needs an onboarding code from the B3IQ team. A machine that has already been onboarded instead links to your account by redeeming a claim code at /dashboard/claim.

4

Create local owner auth

Set the local owner account and create a scoped b3iq_local_ API key for local inference clients.

5

Install or select a model

Pick a model profile the machine can actually serve. Larger network models require stronger RAM, VRAM, runtime, and benchmark posture.

Make a local request

Store keys in files instead of shell history or process argv.

bash
umask 077mkdir -p .secrets# Paste the local key, then press Ctrl-D.cat > .secrets/b3iq-local-key

Call the local OpenAI-compatible chat endpoint. Use a model you actually installed: list what your node can serve with curl http://127.0.0.1:8831/v1/models. The model below is only a placeholder:

bash
: "${B3IQ_LOCAL_KEY_FILE:=.secrets/b3iq-local-key}"B3IQ_LOCAL_BASE_URL="${B3IQ_LOCAL_BASE_URL:-http://127.0.0.1:8831}"cfg="$(mktemp)"chmod 600 "$cfg"trap 'rm -f "$cfg"' EXIT{ printf 'url = "%s/v1/chat/completions"\n' "${B3IQ_LOCAL_BASE_URL%/}" printf 'request = "POST"\n' printf 'header = "Authorization: Bearer %s"\n' "$(sed -n '1p' "$B3IQ_LOCAL_KEY_FILE")" printf 'header = "Content-Type: application/json"\n'} > "$cfg"curl --fail --silent --show-error --config "$cfg" --data-binary @- <<'JSON'{ "model": "qwen3-8b", "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Run a local B3IQ smoke reply." }], "stream": false}JSON
Need hosted routing?

Local keys are not hosted gateway keys. Hosted calls use scoped b3iq_gateway_ credentials and route to the machines on your account. See Hosted Gateway.

Next steps

Host agent

The local service behind claiming, runtimes, keys, and local inference.

Learn More
Model readiness

Learn the full checklist for installed, benchmarked, paid-route-capable profiles.

Learn More
Local API

Use local /v1/models, /v1/chat/completions, model profiles, and receipts.

Learn More
Route readiness

Understand why a node is or is not eligible for network work.

Learn More
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