Tutorials

These tutorials take you from an empty machine to a workstation running an AI coding agent, one small step at a time. Each one builds on the last, so if you are new to Ringleader, read them in order.

If you would rather start from a finished environment than build one step by step, pick a stack: a workstation with your coding agent and a set of tools already installed.

If you arrived here from Onboarding, you have already booted a workstation, which is most of the first tutorial. Skim it for the parts onboarding skipped (what each manifest field means, namespaces, and lifecycle phases), or jump straight to Adding tools.

1. Your first workstation: write a one-file manifest, apply it, and open a shell on a local VM.
2. Adding tools: introduce the reusable WorkstationConfig layer and install your first development tools with label-based matching.
3. Managing workstations: stop, start, restart, and delete a workstation declaratively, and drive everything from the terminal UI.
4. Coding with Claude Code: give an AI coding agent a governed workstation of its own, and watch the login browser open on your own machine.

The only thing you need before you start is Ringleader installed on your machine. If you have not done that yet, follow Install on macOS or Install on Windows first, then come back here. Everything after the install is the same on either platform.

Every tutorial follows the same rhythm: you do the thing first and see it work, then a short “What just happened?” section explains the machinery underneath. You can stop after any tutorial and pick up later, because the environments you build here are persistent and stay exactly as you left them.

• Your first workstationGo from an empty machine to a shell on a local Ringleader workstation, and learn the core apply-and-connect loop.
• Adding toolsInstall development tools on your workstation with a reusable WorkstationConfig and label-based matching.
• Managing workstationsStop, start, restart, and delete a workstation declaratively, and do all of it from the terminal UI.
• Coding with Claude CodeRun Claude Code inside your workstation and watch the login browser open on your own machine, even though the agent runs in the VM.