Zero to Hero (Host Mode, UI)

First installation

Initialise norsk-ctl

Run norsk-ctl init to create the configuration file with your license and default working directory. Host mode runs Norsk directly on the host — no proxy, no Docker networking.

$ norsk-ctl init --network-mode host --license-file /home/parallels/internal_dev_license.json --working-directory /tmp/workspace

Config written to /tmp/nix-shell.DOxv4h/norsk-ctl-guide-zero-to-hero-host-ui-cLZMw5/config.yaml
Equivalent command: norsk-ctl init --network-mode host --license-file /home/parallels/internal_dev_license.json --working-directory /tmp/workspace

Getting started

Open the dashboard

Navigate directly to the daemon — no login needed in host mode.

Navigate to the Instances page

Click Instances in the sidebar to manage instances.

Launch an instance

The working directory auto-fills from your init settings.

View instance details

Click the instance card to see its full status.

Open Norsk Studio

In host mode, the studio is accessible directly on the instance port — no proxy required.

Clean up

Navigate back to the Instances page, click the instance tile, then click Remove on the details page to delete it.

The daemon can be stopped and restarted at any time — running instances are unaffected.

$ norsk-ctl shutdown --daemon-only

Daemon stopped (pid 640633)