Self-Hosted Deployment

Overview

Ask Akto is an AI-powered conversational assistant integrated into Akto's security platform that enables users to have real-time conversations about Agentic vulnerabilities, test results, and security insights.

Key Capabilities

• Interactive Vulnerability Analysis: Ask questions about test results and vulnerabilities in natural language

• Agentic and API Security Guidance: Get AI-powered remediation suggestions and security best practices

• Test Result Analysis: Deep-dive into why tests passed/failed with AI assistance

• Dashboard Metrics Discussion: Analyse Agentic collections, endpoints, and risk scores

• Conversation History: Track and search through past security discussions

• Multi-Conversation Support: Maintain separate conversation threads for different contexts

Pre-requisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed

• Anthropic API Key

• Akto API Security Dashboard running (self-hosted instance)

Deployment Setup

1

Create the Deployment Directory

Create a directory that stores the Docker Compose configuration and environment files.

mkdir -p ~/akto-agentic-testing
cd ~/akto-agentic-testing

The directory acts as the working location for the deployment.

2

Create Docker Compose File

Create a docker-compose.yml file with the following configuration:

version: '3.8'

services:
  agent-testing:
    container_name: agent-testing
    image: public.ecr.aws/aktosecurity/akto-agentic-testing:latest
    ports:
      - "5500:5500"
    env_file:
      - ./docker-agentic-testing-dashboard.env
    restart: always

  mcp-server:
    container_name: mcp-server
    image: public.ecr.aws/aktosecurity/akto-agentic-testing:mcp_latest
    ports:
      - "4000:4000"
    env_file:
      - ./docker-mcp-server.env
    restart: always

The Docker Compose configuration defines two services:

• agent-testing – runs the AI-driven Agentic engine.

• mcp-server – provides the MCP interface used by the testing agent.

3

Create Environment Files

Two environment files configure runtime behavior for the containers.

Environment File for Agent Testing Service

Create a file named: docker-agentic-testing-dashboard.env

# Anthropic API Configuration
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=<YOUR_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY>

# Node Environment
NODE_ENV=production

# Agent Testing Service Port
PORT=5500

# Enable Agentic Mode
AGENTIC_MODE=true

# MCP Server Connection
MCP_SERVER_URL=http://<YOUR_MCP_SERVER_HOST>:<YOUR_MCP_SERVER_PORT>

Environment variables

Variable	Purpose
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	API key used for accessing Anthropic Claude models.
PORT	Port exposed by the agent-testing service. Default value: 5500.
MCP_SERVER_URL	URL used by the agent-testing service to communicate with the MCP server. Replace <YOUR_MCP_SERVER_HOST> and <YOUR_MCP_SERVER_PORT> with the MCP server host and port configured in the deployment environment.

Environment File for MCP Server

Create a file named: docker-mcp-server.env

# Dashboard Connection
AKTO_BASE_URL=http://<YOUR_AKTO_DASHBOARD_HOST>:<PORT>

# MCP Server Configuration
MCP_MODE=internal
MCP_API_KEY="abc"

# Debug Logging
DEBUG=true

Environment variables

Variable	Purpose
AKTO_BASE_URL	Base URL of the Akto API Security Dashboard. Replace <YOUR_AKTO_DASHBOARD_HOST> and <PORT> with the hostname and port configured in the on-prem deployment.
MCP_MODE	Deployment mode of the MCP server. Value internal is used for on-prem environments.
MCP_API_KEY	Authentication key used for MCP server access.

4

Start the Services

# From the deployment directory
docker-compose up -d

# Verify services are running
docker-compose ps

Expected output:

NAME              STATUS        PORTS
agent-testing     Up ...        0.0.0.0:5500->5500/tcp
mcp-server        Up ...        0.0.0.0:4000->4000/tcp

5

Verify Connectivity

You can verify that both services started successfully by checking the health endpoints.

Agent Testing Service

curl http://<AGENT_TESTING_HOST>:<AGENT_TESTING_PORT>/health

MCP Server

curl http://<MCP_SERVER_HOST>:<MCP_SERVER_PORT>/health

Usage

Once deployed, Ask Akto can be accessed through the Akto's Security Dashboard:

1. Navigate to your Akto dashboard

2. Access the Ask Akto feature section

3. Start conversing with the agent.

Support

If you need help with the deployment:

• Discord Community: Join our community at discord.gg/Wpc6xVME4s

• Email Support: Contact us at [email protected]

Our team is available 24/7 to assist you with setup, troubleshooting, and best practices.