Gateway Management

The aleph-server binary manages the Aleph Gateway lifecycle. This page covers all commands related to starting, stopping, monitoring, and querying the server.

Starting the Gateway

Foreground Mode

aleph-server
# or explicitly:
aleph-server start

The server starts listening on the configured bind address and port (default 127.0.0.1:18790). Logs are printed to stdout.

Custom Bind Address and Port

aleph-server --bind 0.0.0.0 --port 9000

Flag	Default	Description
`--bind <ADDR>`	`127.0.0.1`	Network interface to bind to. Use `0.0.0.0` for all interfaces.
`--port <PORT>`	`18790`	WebSocket listen port
`--force`	`false`	Start even if the port appears to be in use
`--max-connections <N>`	`1000`	Maximum number of concurrent WebSocket connections

With Configuration File

aleph-server -c ~/.aleph/config.toml

The configuration file is TOML format and can specify agent, gateway, and control plane settings:

[agent.main]
provider = "anthropic"
model = "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"

[gateway]
bind = "127.0.0.1"
port = 18790

[control_plane]
port = 18790

With WebChat UI

If you have a WebChat frontend built as static files, serve it alongside the Gateway:

aleph-server --webchat-dir ./webchat/dist --webchat-port 8080

Flag	Description
`--webchat-dir <PATH>`	Directory containing static HTML/JS/CSS files
`--webchat-port <PORT>`	HTTP port for the WebChat server (defaults to same as `--port`)

Daemon Mode

Run the Gateway as a background process using the --daemon (-d) flag. This is useful for long-running deployments.

Starting a Daemon

aleph-server -d --log-file ~/.aleph/gateway.log

$ aleph-server -d --log-file ~/.aleph/gateway.log
# (process forks into background, parent exits immediately)

Flag	Default	Description
`--daemon` / `-d`	`false`	Fork into background
`--pid-file <PATH>`	`~/.aleph/gateway.pid`	Location of the PID file
`--log-file <PATH>`	—	Redirect stdout/stderr to this file. If omitted, output goes to `/dev/null`.

The daemon writes its PID to the PID file. All subsequent stop and status commands use this file to locate the process.

Stopping a Daemon

aleph-server stop

Expected output:

Sending SIGTERM to gateway process (PID 54321)
Gateway stopped successfully

The stop command sends SIGTERM and waits up to 5 seconds for a graceful shutdown. If the process does not exit, it escalates to SIGKILL.

Checking Status

aleph-server status

Possible outputs:

Gateway is running (PID 54321)

Gateway is not running (stale PID file for PID 54321)

Gateway is not running (no PID file)

For machine-readable output:

aleph-server status --json

{
  "running": true,
  "pid": 54321
}

Health Check

From the client CLI, verify that the Gateway is reachable:

aleph health

Server Status: ok
Timestamp: 2026-02-25T10:30:00Z

This sends a health JSON-RPC call over WebSocket. If the server is unreachable, you will see a connection error:

Error: Connection error: Connection refused (os error 61)

To check a remote server:

aleph -s ws://192.168.1.50:18790 health

Server Information

Get detailed information about a running Gateway:

aleph info

=== Aleph Gateway Server ===

Version: 0.1.0
Status: ok
Uptime: 2h 15m 30s

Available Providers:
  ✓ anthropic
  ✗ openai

The info command queries both the health and providers.list RPC methods.

Gateway RPC Tool

The aleph-server gateway call command lets you invoke arbitrary JSON-RPC methods on a running Gateway. This is useful for debugging and scripting.

aleph-server gateway call <METHOD> [OPTIONS]

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--params <JSON>`	`-p`	—	JSON parameters to pass with the RPC call
`--url <URL>`	—	`ws://127.0.0.1:18790`	Gateway WebSocket URL
`--timeout <MS>`	—	`30000`	Request timeout in milliseconds

Examples

# Health check via raw RPC
aleph-server gateway call health

# Get full config as JSON
aleph-server gateway call config.get

# Call a method with parameters
aleph-server gateway call config.get -p '{"path": "general.language"}'

# Call with custom timeout
aleph-server gateway call agent.run \
  -p '{"input": "Hello"}' \
  --timeout 60000

System Service Integration

macOS (launchd)

Create ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.aleph.server.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
  "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.aleph.server</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/local/bin/aleph-server</string>
        <string>--daemon</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.aleph.server.plist
launchctl start com.aleph.server

Linux (systemd)

Create /etc/systemd/system/aleph-server.service:

[Unit]
Description=Aleph AI Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=aleph
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/aleph-server
Restart=on-failure
Environment="ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-api-key"

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now aleph-server
sudo systemctl status aleph-server

Troubleshooting

Port Already in Use

# Find the process using the port
lsof -i :18790

# Kill it, then retry
kill <PID>
aleph-server start

Or use --force to attempt binding anyway, and --port to choose a different port:

aleph-server --port 18790

Stale PID File

If aleph-server status reports a stale PID file, the previous process exited without cleanup. Run stop to clear it:

aleph-server stop
# "Gateway is not running (stale PID file)"
# PID file is automatically removed

Connection Refused from Client

Ensure the server is running and the URL matches:

# Check server status
aleph-server status

# Verify the port
aleph -s ws://127.0.0.1:18790 health

If the server is binding to 127.0.0.1 and you are connecting from another machine, restart with --bind 0.0.0.0.

The setup wizard is exposed as wizard.* JSON-RPC methods on the gateway (wizard.start / wizard.next / wizard.answer / wizard.cancel / wizard.status); the Panel invokes it from the post-install handshake window. Neither aleph nor aleph-server exposes a wizard CLI subcommand — the full 11-stage flow is Panel-driven.

`aleph-server service` Subcommand

26.7.1+: install / start / enable auto-start / uninstall system service (launchd / systemd-user / Task Scheduler).

`aleph chat` Enhancements

Send message with session_mode field
chat.abort abort a run
chat.history / chat.clear / chat.context_estimate / chat.rewind

`aleph config` Enhancements

New config sections: [gateway.tls] / trusted_proxy / session_mode / exec_tier / [sandbox.command_policy] / [tools] defer_mcp_tools / enable_tool_search / [[hook]] / [[mcp.servers]] / [[plugin.marketplace]] / [projects] / [runtimes] / [voice].