> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.ovalbee.com/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.ovalbee.com/_mcp/server.

# Administration

This section is for the people who set OvalBee up and keep it running for others. If you build and run flows, you won't need most of it. Start with [Core ideas](/start/core-ideas) instead.

## Where OvalBee runs

| Option                  | What it means                                                                                                                                                 |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **OvalBee Cloud**       | We run the platform, compute and storage. You sign in at `app.ovalbee.com` and create workspaces.                                                             |
| **Your infrastructure** | OvalBee runs in your cloud account, your VPC or your data center, on Kubernetes or a single Docker host. Data, compute and models stay inside your perimeter. |

Both run the same product. On your own infrastructure, the platform can also send node runs to a separate GPU cluster, so the control plane and the heavy compute can live in different places — see [Compute](/administration/compute).

For the private beta, installation on your infrastructure is done together with the OvalBee team. [Self-hosted installation](/administration/self-hosting) describes what's involved, so you can prepare.

## Two levels of administration

OvalBee separates the installation from the workspaces in it:

* **Instance administrators** configure the installation as a whole: its public address, sign-in methods, email, storage, compute, the AI agent's API key, user accounts and the audit log. They find all of it under **Admin** → **Configuration** in the main sidebar. On OvalBee Cloud, this level is ours.
* **Workspace owners and admins** run a workspace: its members and their roles, its secrets and API tokens, and on Cloud its billing. They find it under **Settings**. On OvalBee Cloud, the owner of a workspace whose plan includes the audit log also finds **Audit log** in the main sidebar.

A **workspace** is where the work lives: flows, datasets, models, ontologies, secrets and members all belong to one. People can be members of several workspaces and switch between them with the selector at the top of the sidebar, where workspaces are called *spaces*.

## Setting up a new installation

A short checklist for the first day:

#### Set the public address

Under **Admin** → **Configuration** → **General**, set **Public URL** to the address people use. Links in emails, the sign-in callback of your identity provider and the address agents connect to are all built from it.

#### Connect email

Under **Email**, configure SMTP. Invitations and password resets are sent by email, so inviting people needs it.

#### Connect sign-in

Under **Authentication**, add your identity provider, so people sign in with their company account. See [Sign-in and accounts](/administration/sign-in-and-accounts).

#### Check compute and storage

Under **Executor**, **Machine classes** and **Storage**, confirm where node runs go, which machines people can pick, and where files are kept. Make sure a machine class with the `gpu` device type exists for training. See [Compute](/administration/compute).

#### Enable the AI agent

Under **Integrations**, add an OpenAI or Anthropic API key and pick the model to turn on AI Chat and the nodes that call a language model.

#### Invite the team

Create workspaces for your teams and add members with the right roles. See [Members and roles](/administration/members-and-roles).

## Plans

A few features depend on your OvalBee plan — roles and per-flow sharing, live flow collaboration and the audit log among them. Where a feature isn't part of your plan, the app usually shows it locked rather than hiding it; on OvalBee Cloud, **Audit log** appears in the main sidebar only once the workspace's plan includes it. Your OvalBee contact can tell you what your beta setup includes.

## In this section

#### [Members and roles](/administration/members-and-roles)

Workspaces, roles, invitations and per-flow sharing.

#### [Secrets and API tokens](/administration/secrets-and-tokens)

Credentials for nodes, and tokens for scripts and agents.

#### [Sign-in and accounts](/administration/sign-in-and-accounts)

SSO, signup, passwords and account deletion.

#### [Audit log](/administration/audit-log)

Who did what, and when.

#### [Compute](/administration/compute)

Where node runs and deployments execute, and how GPUs are assigned.

#### [Platform configuration](/administration/platform-configuration)

Every instance-level setting, tab by tab.

#### [Self-hosted installation](/administration/self-hosting)

What an installation on your infrastructure consists of.