Quickstart: Admins

Set up your Handler org in minutes: create agent profiles, assign them to team members, apply governance templates, and watch the Activity feed.

1. Connect the manage surface

Admins get two MCP endpoints. The management endpoint (/manage) gives you 38 tools to create profiles, manage approvals, invite members, and set spending rules.

Add both entries to your MCP config. The same profile key works on both endpoints — access to management tools is gated by the capabilities granted to your member account:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "handler": {
      "url": "https://mcp.usehandler.dev/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer sk-profile-YOUR_KEY" }
    },
    "handler-manage": {
      "url": "https://mcp.usehandler.dev/manage",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer sk-profile-YOUR_KEY" }
    }
  }
}
Same key, two endpoints. Both /mcp and /manage accept your agent key. Access to management tools is gated by the capabilities granted to your member account — capability changes take effect immediately without reconnecting.

2. Scripted admin mission

Follow these steps to walk through the full admin flow — creating a profile, assigning it, applying a template, and watching Activity. You can do this from your agent's MCP client or via the dashboard at app.usehandler.dev.

Create an agent profile

Via MCP — call handler_create_agent from your management-enabled agent:

handler_create_agent({
  "name": "Research-Bot",
  "allowed_services": ["handler_research", "handler_intel", "handler_monitor"]
})

The response contains the agent's id and a one-time key shown to you once. Save both.

Via CLI:

handler agents create "Research-Bot"

Assign by email

Invite a team member and give them access to the profile. Via MCP:

handler_invite_member({
  "email": "alice@yourcompany.com",
  "role": "member"
})

Then assign the profile directly to the member via MCP:

handler_assign_profile({
  "profile_id": "<agent-id>",
  "emails": ["alice@yourcompany.com"]
})

Or via the dashboard: Profiles → select profile → Members tab → Add.

Apply a governance template

Templates let you apply a pre-built set of rules (spending caps, approval tiers, allowed services) to one or many profiles at once. List available templates:

handler_manage_templates({ "task": "list" })

Apply a template to your new profile:

handler_set_profile_template({
  "profile_id": "<agent-id>",
  "template_id": "<template-id>"
})

Set a monthly spend ceiling on the profile:

handler_set_spend_cap({
  "scope": "profile",
  "id": "<agent-id>",
  "monthly_cap_usd": 5.00
})

Need approval only above a dollar amount, or only for certain services? Create an approval policy with a cost condition:

handler_manage_approval_policies({
  "action": "create",
  "scope": "profile",
  "profile_id": "<agent-id>",
  "steps": [{ "condition": { "cost_above": 1.00 }, "approver_type": "member", "approver_ref_id": "<member-id>" }]
})

Watch Activity

Once your agent makes calls, every execution is logged. Query activity via MCP:

handler_activity({ "agent_id": "<agent-id>", "limit": 20 })

Or filter by outcome:

handler_activity({ "outcome": "blocked", "limit": 50 })

Via CLI:

handler activity --limit 50
handler spend --period 30d

In the dashboard, the Activity page shows a live feed of every call — with status (executed / pending / blocked), cost, and which agent made it. Calls held for approval appear here with an Approve / Reject button.

3. Manage approvals

When an agent's action triggers an approval rule, it lands in the pending queue. Review and decide via MCP:

# List pending approvals
handler_approvals({ "tier": "delegated", "limit": 20 })

# Approve
handler_decide({ "approval_id": "<id>", "decision": "approved" })

# Reject with a reason
handler_decide({ "approval_id": "<id>", "decision": "rejected", "reason": "Budget exceeded" })

Via CLI:

handler approvals list
handler approvals approve <id>
handler approvals reject <id> -r "Budget exceeded"

4. CLI reference

The handler CLI covers the full admin surface from your terminal:

handler login                      # Browser-based authentication

# Profiles
handler agents list                # List all profiles
handler agents create "Worker"     # Create profile (key shown once)

# Approvals
handler approvals list             # View pending approvals
handler approvals approve <id>
handler approvals reject <id> -r "reason"

# Monitoring
handler activity --limit 50
handler spend --period 30d

What's next

Governance Deep Dive

Full reference for caps, approval tiers, routing channels, and per-service toggles.

Agent Swarms

Run orchestrated multi-agent workflows with shared governance.

Connected Services

Connect your team's services so agents can act on your behalf.

Agent Quickstart

Get a key, connect via MCP, and run your first agent mission.