# Standalone Setup

> Start Apoxy locally or directly on a machine using the current CLI runtime commands.

This guide covers running Apoxy without a Kubernetes controller — either for local development
or as a standalone edge node.

## Two entrypoints

### `apoxy dev`

`apoxy dev [path/to/proxy.yaml]` starts a complete local stack for development. It includes:

- A local Apoxy API server.
- A backplane process.
- A tunnelproxy process.
- ClickHouse for logs (unless you provide an external address).
- Live reload when the config file or URL changes.

This is the fastest way to iterate on a proxy configuration locally.

### `apoxy run`

`apoxy run` starts specific runtime components defined in your config file's
`runtime.components` section. The available component types are:

- `kube-aggregation`
- `kube-mirror`
- `tunnel`

Use `apoxy run` when you need explicit control over which components are running.

## Choosing between them

- **`apoxy dev`** — Batteries-included local development loop around a proxy config file.
- **`apoxy run`** — Explicit control over individual runtime components for production or
  custom setups.
- **`apoxy tunnel run`** — Use this directly when you only need tunnel connectivity.

## Runtime configuration

`apoxy run` reads the active config file and starts all components listed under
`runtime.components`:

```yaml title="apoxy.yaml"
runtime:
  components:
    - type: kube-aggregation
      kubeAggregation:
        clusterName: "prod-us-east-1"
        namespace: "apoxy"
    - type: kube-mirror
      kubeMirror:
        mirror: "gateway"
    - type: tunnel
      tunnel:
        mode: "user"
```

### Defaults

For `kube-mirror`:

- Namespace: `apoxy`
- Mirror modes: `gateway`, `ingress`, or `all`

For `kube-aggregation`:

- Namespace: `apoxy`

For `tunnel`:

- The active project must be set in your config for mirror and aggregation components to work.

### Live reload with `apoxy dev`

`apoxy dev` watches the specified file or URL and re-applies configuration automatically when
it changes. This makes it the faster entrypoint when you're iterating on a single proxy spec.