# Intelligence Setup Guide
This guide shows how to set up **CopilotKit Intelligence**: durable thread storage plus a websocket transport for realtime events.
Intelligence is designed to feel like a small runtime configuration change, not a separate product integration. You provide an Intelligence platform client to the runtime, and the rest of the stack switches from plain SSE mode into Intelligence mode automatically.
---
## What Changes in Intelligence Mode
```mermaid
graph TB
subgraph Frontend
App["React / Angular / Vanilla"]
Core["CopilotKitCore"]
Proxy["ProxiedCopilotRuntimeAgent"]
IA["IntelligenceAgent
chosen after /info"]
end
subgraph Your Server
RT["CopilotRuntime"]
CPK-I["CopilotKitIntelligence"]
Runner["IntelligenceAgentRunner"]
end
subgraph Intelligence
API["Thread API
durable storage"]
WS["Realtime WebSocket"]
end
App --> Core
Core --> Proxy
Proxy -->|info handshake| RT
RT --> CPK-I
CPK-I --> API
RT --> Runner
Runner --> WS
Proxy --> IA
IA -->|REST bootstrap| RT
IA -->|WebSocket events| WS
```
### SSE Mode vs Intelligence Mode
| Mode | Thread storage | Realtime transport | `/info` reports |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------- | ------------------ | --------------------------------------------- |
| SSE | Ephemeral unless your runner persists state | SSE | `mode: "sse"` |
| Intelligence | Durable thread APIs | WebSocket | `mode: "intelligence"` + `intelligence.wsUrl` |
The important design rule is:
- The **runtime** decides the mode.
- The **client** waits for `/info` before choosing the concrete remote agent implementation.
- The **developer** only opts in by providing `intelligence`.
---
## Minimal Runtime Setup
### 1. Install runtime packages
```bash
npm install @copilotkit/runtime
```
### 2. Create the Intelligence platform client
```typescript
import { CopilotKitIntelligence } from "@copilotkit/runtime";
const intelligence = new CopilotKitIntelligence({
apiKey: process.env.COPILOTKIT_INTELLIGENCE_API_KEY!,
organizationId: process.env.COPILOTKIT_INTELLIGENCE_ORGANIZATION_ID!,
apiUrl: "https://your-intelligence-host/api",
wsUrl: "wss://your-intelligence-host/socket",
});
```
### 3. Pass it to `CopilotRuntime`
```typescript
import express from "express";
import { CopilotRuntime } from "@copilotkit/runtime";
import { createCopilotEndpointExpress } from "@copilotkit/runtime/express";
const app = express();
const runtime = new CopilotRuntime({
agents: {
default: myAgent,
},
intelligence,
});
app.use(
"/api/copilotkit",
createCopilotEndpointExpress({
runtime,
basePath: "/",
}),
);
```
That is the mode switch. You do **not** separately configure Intelligence handlers in the endpoint layer. The runtime selects them.
---
## What `CopilotRuntime` Does For You
When `intelligence` is present, `CopilotRuntime`:
- switches its mode from `"sse"` to `"intelligence"`
- uses the Intelligence handler path for `run`, `connect`, and `threads`
- auto-configures the Intelligence runner from `intelligence.wsUrl`
- reports Intelligence metadata from `/info`
Example `/info` response:
```json
{
"version": "1.x.x",
"mode": "intelligence",
"agents": {
"default": {
"name": "default",
"description": "My agent",
"className": "BuiltInAgent"
}
},
"audioFileTranscriptionEnabled": false,
"a2uiEnabled": false,
"intelligence": {
"wsUrl": "wss://your-intelligence-host/socket"
}
}
```
The frontend uses that response to decide whether to keep using the HTTP/SSE path or switch to the Intelligence websocket path.
---
## Frontend Behavior
You do not configure a special provider flag for Intelligence.
This stays the same:
```tsx
import { CopilotKitProvider, CopilotChat } from "@copilotkit/react-core/v2";
export function App() {
return (
);
}
```
What changes under the hood:
1. The provider connects to the runtime as usual.
2. `CopilotKitCore` fetches `/info`.
3. `ProxiedCopilotRuntimeAgent` waits until the runtime reports its mode.
4. If the mode is:
- `"sse"`: normal HTTP/SSE behavior continues.
- `"intelligence"`: the proxy uses `IntelligenceAgent` and the runtime-provided websocket URL.
This is why the runtime owns the mode decision instead of the frontend guessing from config.
---
## Durable Threads
Intelligence mode adds thread APIs on the runtime:
| Route | Method | Purpose |
| ---------------------------- | ------ | ------------------------------------ |
| `/threads` | GET | List durable threads |
| `/threads/subscribe` | POST | Get credentials for realtime updates |
| `/threads/:threadId` | PATCH | Update thread metadata |
| `/threads/:threadId/archive` | POST | Archive a thread |
| `/threads/:threadId` | DELETE | Delete a thread |
These routes are **Intelligence-only**.
In SSE mode they should reject with an explicit error, because SSE runtimes do not have the durable thread backend required to satisfy them.
---
## How Agent Runs Work in Intelligence Mode
```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
participant Client as Frontend
participant Runtime as CopilotRuntime
participant CPK-I as CopilotKitIntelligence
participant WS as Intelligence WebSocket
Client->>Runtime: GET /info
Runtime-->>Client: { mode: "intelligence", wsUrl: ... }
Client->>Runtime: POST /agent/default/run
Runtime->>CPK-I: ensure thread exists + acquire lock
CPK-I-->>Runtime: join token / join code
Runtime-->>Client: bootstrap response
Client->>WS: join thread channel
WS-->>Client: AG-UI events in realtime
```
The runtime is still the contract boundary the frontend talks to. Intelligence is not exposed as a separate frontend integration surface.
---
## Local Agents vs Runtime-Discovered Agents
Local or self-managed agents still matter in Intelligence mode.
The intended precedence is:
1. local/self-managed agents
2. runtime-discovered remote agents
That lets application code override a runtime-reported agent with a local implementation for development, testing, or custom routing behavior.
---
## Recommended Mental Model
Think of Intelligence as a **runtime capability**, not a second transport API developers need to learn.
- `CopilotKitIntelligence` configures the runtime's Intelligence backend.
- `CopilotRuntime` exposes that capability through the same frontend-facing contract.
- `/info` tells the client which concrete remote-agent implementation to use.
- Frontend app code stays mostly unchanged.
If the setup feels bigger than “add the CPK-I to the runtime,” the abstraction is probably leaking.