Skip to main content
The hosted brain runs the same open-source code. Self-host when you need data residency, an air-gapped lab, or to hack on Merv itself.

​
Two shapes

Both use the same topology as hosted: every agent client talks straight to one brain over HTTP; the browser UI talks to the same brain. No local MCP proxy, and the brain never receives your checkout — agents send explicit ids, metadata, and the bytes they choose to submit.

​
What you take on

  • TLS termination and a trusted network boundary (the brain itself serves plain HTTP on 8787).
  • Managed Postgres, object storage, backups, lifecycle rules.
  • A secret manager and a rotation procedure for the management key and provider credentials.
  • A cleanup scheduler (POST /api/admin/cleanup from cron) and alerting.
  • A separately deployed UI with explicit CORS origins.
  • End-user auth before any public or multi-tenant use.
The reference deployment in merv/deploy/ is a worked example, not a managed service or a production security boundary. Keep an open (MERV_REQUIRE_AUTH=0) stack on a trusted operator network only.