Dev Mode¶

The default Helm installation runs in dev mode — no authentication, no authorization checks, and no production safeguards.

What dev mode means¶

When you run:

helm install aip-k8s charts/aip-k8s/ \
  --namespace aip-k8s-system \
  --create-namespace

The gateway starts with: - authRequired: false — anyone can submit requests - No OIDC issuer configured - No agent/reviewer/admin subjects required - No JWT minting enabled - No proxy header authentication

This is intentional. Dev mode lets you explore AIP without setting up identity providers.

Accessing the services¶

The gateway and dashboard are exposed inside the cluster only. To access them from your local machine:

# Gateway API
kubectl port-forward -n aip-k8s-system svc/aip-k8s-gateway 8080:8080

# Dashboard UI
kubectl port-forward -n aip-k8s-system svc/aip-k8s-dashboard 8082:8082

ℹ️ Port-forward is a development convenience. It is not suitable for production.

When to use dev mode¶

Local development and testing
Exploring the API and dashboard
Running the scaledown demo
CI/CD integration tests

When NOT to use dev mode¶

Production clusters
Multi-tenant environments
Any cluster where untrusted users have network access

Moving to production¶

Before deploying to production, you must:

Enable authentication — configure OIDC or proxy-header auth
Set role subjects — define who can act as agents, reviewers, and admins
Enable JWT minting — for MCP proxy tool access
Review resource limits — ensure CPU/memory limits are appropriate

See Production Hardening for step-by-step instructions.