> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getgriffinapp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Griffin Hub Overview

> The control plane for Griffin's API monitoring

Griffin Hub is the backend service that stores monitors, schedules runs, processes results, and serves the API. It's what the CLI communicates with when you run `griffin apply`, `griffin runs`, or `griffin metrics`.

## What the hub does

* **Stores monitors** — Receives and persists monitor definitions from the CLI
* **Schedules execution** — Triggers monitors based on their configured frequency
* **Processes results** — Stores run outcomes and aggregates metrics
* **Manages secrets** — Resolves secret references at execution time
* **Sends notifications** — Evaluates notification rules and dispatches alerts
* **Serves the API** — Provides REST endpoints for the CLI and integrations

## Deployment modes

### Standalone

The hub runs with a built-in executor in a single process. This is the simplest setup:

```bash theme={null}
cd griffin-hub
npm run start:standalone
```

One process handles everything: API, scheduling, and test execution.

### Distributed

The hub runs as a control plane only, with separate executor agents:

```bash theme={null}
# Start the hub (control plane only)
cd griffin-hub
npm start

# Start agents separately (can be on different machines)
# Agents register with the hub and pull jobs from the queue
```

This mode supports multiple executors in different locations for geographic distribution and horizontal scaling.

## Requirements

* **Node.js** 18+
* **PostgreSQL** 14+ (for storage and job queue)
* Appropriate environment variables (see [Configuration](/griffin-hub/configuration))

## Quick start

```bash theme={null}
# Set up the database
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/griffin"
cd griffin-hub
npm run db:push

# Start in standalone mode
npm run start:standalone
```

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Configuration" icon="gear" href="/griffin-hub/configuration">
    All environment variables and options.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Self-Hosting Guide" icon="server" href="/griffin-hub/self-hosting">
    Step-by-step deployment instructions.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>