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20 CLI Commands: Deploy Your Self-Hosted AI Wallet in Minutes

#ai #opensource #selfhosted #docker

CLI commands make deploying self-hosted infrastructure fast and predictable, but setting up AI wallet infrastructure typically requires weeks of blockchain integration, security configuration, and transaction monitoring setup. Most developers end up relying on third-party services, sacrificing control and privacy for convenience.

Why Self-Hosting Your AI Wallet Matters

When your AI agents handle real money, custody becomes critical. Third-party wallet services create single points of failure, impose rate limits during market volatility, and require trusting external providers with transaction signing. Self-hosting puts you back in control — your keys stay on your infrastructure, your policies enforce without external dependencies, and your agents operate with the privacy and uptime guarantees you set.

The challenge has been complexity. Building wallet infrastructure from scratch means implementing multi-chain support, transaction pipelines, policy engines, and monitoring systems. That's months of development before your first AI agent can even check a balance.

The Solution: WAIaaS CLI

WAIaaS provides 20 CLI commands that transform wallet infrastructure deployment from a months-long project into a 5-minute setup. The CLI handles everything from initial provisioning to ongoing management, with Docker deployment for production environments.

Complete Command List

The CLI offers 20 commands across five categories:

  • Setup: init, quickstart, quickset, set-master
  • Operations: start, stop, status, update
  • Wallet Management: wallet create, wallet info
  • Sessions: session prompt
  • Integration: mcp setup, notification setup
  • Owner Control: owner connect, owner disconnect, owner status
  • Backup/Recovery: backup create, backup inspect, backup list, restore

One-Command Deployment

The fastest path from zero to running wallet infrastructure:

npm install -g @waiaas/cli
waiaas init                        # Create data directory + config.toml
waiaas start                       # Start daemon (sets master password on first run)
waiaas quickset --mode mainnet     # Create wallets + MCP sessions in one step
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This creates a complete multi-chain wallet system with both Ethereum and Solana support, session tokens for AI agent authentication, and MCP integration for frameworks like Claude Desktop.

Auto-Provisioned Setup

For completely hands-off deployment, use auto-provisioning:

waiaas init --auto-provision     # Generates random master password → recovery.key
waiaas start                     # No password prompt
waiaas quickset                  # Creates wallets + sessions automatically
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The master password gets saved to recovery.key for later hardening. This approach works perfectly for Docker deployments where interactive password entry isn't practical.

Docker Production Deployment

For production self-hosting, Docker provides the cleanest deployment:

# Clone and start — that's it
git clone https://github.com/minhoyoo-iotrust/WAIaaS.git
cd WAIaaS
docker compose up -d
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The Docker image (ghcr.io/minhoyoo-iotrust/waiaas:latest) includes auto-provision, Docker Secrets integration, healthchecks, and runs as non-root (UID 1001) for security.

For single-container deployment with auto-provisioning:

docker run -d \
  --name waiaas \
  -p 127.0.0.1:3100:3100 \
  -v waiaas-data:/data \
  -e WAIAAS_AUTO_PROVISION=true \
  ghcr.io/minhoyoo-iotrust/waiaas:latest

# Retrieve auto-generated master password
docker exec waiaas cat /data/recovery.key
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Wallet and Session Management

Creating wallets for different AI agents:

# Create dedicated wallets per use case
waiaas wallet create --name "trading-bot" --chain solana --environment mainnet
waiaas wallet create --name "defi-agent" --chain ethereum --environment mainnet

# Check wallet info
waiaas wallet info --name "trading-bot"
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Session tokens provide secure AI agent authentication without exposing master credentials:

# Create session for AI agent
waiaas session prompt --wallet "trading-bot"
# Returns: wai_sess_eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9...

# Use in agent code
export WAIAAS_SESSION_TOKEN="wai_sess_eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9..."
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MCP Integration Setup

For AI frameworks like Claude Desktop, the MCP setup command handles configuration automatically:

# Auto-register all wallets with Claude Desktop
waiaas mcp setup --all
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This writes the proper configuration to Claude's config file, enabling natural language wallet operations:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "waiaas": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@waiaas/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "WAIAAS_BASE_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:3100",
        "WAIAAS_SESSION_TOKEN": "wai_sess_<your-token>",
        "WAIAAS_DATA_DIR": "~/.waiaas"
      }
    }
  }
}
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Backup and Recovery

Self-hosting requires backup strategies. The CLI provides encrypted backup commands:

# Create encrypted backup
waiaas backup create --password "backup-password"

# List available backups
waiaas backup list

# Restore from backup
waiaas restore --file backup-20241201-123456.enc --password "backup-password"
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Owner Control Integration

For human oversight, owner authentication provides transaction approval and kill switches:

# Connect hardware wallet or signing app for approvals
waiaas owner connect --method walletconnect

# Check owner connection status
waiaas owner status
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This enables 4-tier security policies where large transactions require human approval via WalletConnect, Telegram, or push notifications.

Status and Monitoring

The CLI provides comprehensive status checking:

# Overall system status
waiaas status

# Detailed service health
curl http://127.0.0.1:3100/health
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The daemon exposes 39 REST API routes for programmatic monitoring, with OpenAPI 3.0 documentation at /doc and interactive API reference at /reference.

Quick Start Guide

  1. Install CLI: npm install -g @waiaas/cli

  2. Initialize and start:

   waiaas init --auto-provision
   waiaas start
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  1. Create wallets and sessions: 
   waiaas quickset --mode mainnet
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  1. Set up AI integration: 
   waiaas mcp setup --all
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  1. Test with your AI agent: 
   curl http://127.0.0.1:3100/v1/wallet/balance \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer wai_sess_<token>"
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Your self-hosted AI wallet infrastructure is now running with multi-chain support (18 networks), 15 DeFi protocol integrations, 21 policy types for security, and 45 MCP tools for AI framework integration.

What's Next

Your self-hosted wallet infrastructure is running, but optimal security requires policy configuration and backup automation. The 21 policy types provide granular control over spending limits, token whitelists, and transaction approval workflows — essential for production AI agents handling real funds.

Ready to deploy your own AI wallet infrastructure? Visit the GitHub repository for complete setup instructions and check out the official documentation for advanced configuration options.

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