ChatRoom Quick Start

ChatRoom Quick Start#

Get the web UI running in under a minute.

Prerequisites#

  1. Pantheon installed: pip install pantheon-agents

  2. API key configured: export OPENAI_API_KEY="..."

Step 1: Start ChatRoom#

pantheon ui --auto-start-nats --auto-ui

This will:

  • Start a local NATS messaging server

  • Launch the ChatRoom backend

  • Open the web UI in your browser (auto-connected)

You’ll see output like:

[STARTUP] Auto-starting local NATS server...
✓ NATS server started successfully
  TCP URL: nats://localhost:4222
  WebSocket URL: ws://127.0.0.1:8080
[STARTUP] Worker is ready, opening browser...
[FRONTEND] ✓ Browser opened successfully

Step 2: Start Chatting#

The browser opens automatically with the connection pre-configured. Type your message and press Enter.

Using Team Templates#

ChatRoom uses team templates from .pantheon/teams/. To use a specific template:

pantheon ui --auto-start-nats --auto-ui --template data_research_team

Available options:

# List available templates
ls .pantheon/teams/

# Use a template
pantheon ui --auto-start-nats --auto-ui --template <template_name>

Creating Your First Template#

Create a file .pantheon/teams/my_team.md:

---
name: My Team
icon: 🤖
agents:
  - name: assistant
    instructions: You are a helpful assistant.
  - name: coder
    instructions: You are a coding expert.
    toolsets:
      - python_interpreter
      - file_manager
---

# My Custom Team

This team helps with general tasks and coding.

Then start with your template:

pantheon ui --auto-start-nats --auto-ui --template my_team

Connecting to a Remote NATS Server#

If you have a remote NATS server, you can connect directly without auto-starting a local one:

pantheon ui --nats-servers "wss://your-server.com/nats"

In this mode, you need to open the web UI manually and provide the service ID displayed in the terminal.

Troubleshooting#

Browser Didn’t Open

  • Check the terminal for the connection URL and open it manually

  • Ensure --auto-start-nats is used together with --auto-ui

Running in WSL

  • --auto-ui now tries to open your Windows default browser directly when Pantheon runs inside WSL

  • If automatic launch still fails, copy the Full Connection URL from the terminal into a Windows browser manually

  • If you use a custom frontend URL, keep --auto-start-nats enabled so the generated WebSocket connection stays local to your WSL session

NATS Server Failed to Start

  • Check if another NATS instance is already running on port 4222 or 8080

  • Try --log-level DEBUG for more details

Agent Not Responding

  • Verify your API key is set correctly

  • Check the terminal for error messages

Template Not Found

  • Ensure the template file exists in .pantheon/teams/

  • Check the file name matches (without .md extension)

Next Steps#