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Agent Quickstart

This guide walks you through running a simulated satellite execution using the RotaStellar Operator Agent.

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Prerequisites

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1. Clone and Build

git clone https://github.com/rotastellar/rotastellar-agent.git
cd rotastellar-agent
cargo build --release
The binary is at target/release/rotastellar-agent.

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2. Create a Plan

Before running the agent, you need a deployment. In Mission Control:
  1. Go to Missions and create a new mission
  2. Open the mission and click New Plan
  3. Select a satellite (e.g., ISS — NORAD ID 25544) and a preset (e.g., On-Board ML Inference)
  4. Review the plan and click Deploy
  5. Choose Live mode — this creates a deployment that waits for an agent
Alternatively, create a plan via the CAE API and save the response: 
curl -X POST https://rotastellar-cae.subhadip-mitra.workers.dev/v1/plan \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Origin: https://rotastellar.com" \
  -d '{"satellite_id": "25544", "preset_id": "onboard-ml-inference"}' \
  -o plan.json

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3. Run the Agent

Run the agent in long-running poll mode. It will register with the Console, then continuously poll for pending deployments. 
export ROTASTELLAR_API_KEY="rs_live_..."

./target/release/rotastellar-agent run \
  --agent-id sat-25544 \
  --api-url https://console.rotastellar.com \
  --api-key $ROTASTELLAR_API_KEY
When you deploy a plan in Mission Control with Live mode, the agent will pick it up automatically.

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Option B: Simulate a plan file

If you have a saved CAE plan JSON, you can replay it directly: 
./target/release/rotastellar-agent simulate \
  --plan plan.json \
  --speed 100 \
  --api-url https://console.rotastellar.com \
  --api-key $ROTASTELLAR_API_KEY

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4. Watch the Execution

Open the deployment in Mission Control. You’ll see events appear in the timeline as the agent reports them: 
[T+    0s] job.accepted
[T+    0s] placement.decided capture
[T+    0s] placement.decided preprocess
[T+    5s] step.started capture
[T+   10s] step.progress capture (25%)
[T+   25s] step.completed capture
[T+   30s] step.started preprocess
...
[T+  180s] job.completed
The deployment status transitions: pending → dispatched → running → completed.

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5. Check Telemetry

While running, the agent sends periodic telemetry heartbeats. You can see agent status in the Console under Agents — including status, last heartbeat, and resource usage.

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What’s Next

Protocol Spec

Deep dive into the pull-based protocol

Rust SDK

Build a custom agent for your satellite hardware