# Get Started

The **Smart Traffic Intersection Agent (STIA)** provides analytics that include real-time
intersection, directional traffic density, and VLM-powered traffic, among others. This section
shows you how to:

- Set up the agent using the automated setup script for quick deployment.
- Run predefined tasks to explore the agent's functionality.
- Edit configurations to suit specific requirements.

## Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure the following:

- **System requirements**: Verify that your system meets the [minimum requirements](./get-started/system-requirements.md).
- **Docker platform**: Install Docker platform. For installation instructions, see [Get Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/).
- **Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) Broker**: Ensure access to an MQTT broker for
traffic data streaming, or use the included broker.
- **Docker commands and terminal usage**: You are familiar with Docker commands and using the
terminal. If you are new to Docker, see [Docker Documentation](https://docs.docker.com/) for
an introduction.
- **Hugging Face token**: Set your token using `export HUGGINGFACE_TOKEN="<your-huggingface-token>"`
- **Registry configuration**: To pull pre-built images from a specific registry, set the `REGISTRY` and `TAG` parameters. The recommended default setting is below.

  ```bash
  export REGISTRY="intel"
  export TAG="2026.1.0-rc1"
  ```

## Using Edge Microvisor Toolkit

If you are running STIA on an OS image built with **Edge Microvisor Toolkit (EMT)** — an Azure Linux-based build pipeline for Intel® platforms — the deployment approach depends on the EMT flavor. Refer to the detailed documentation for [EMT-D](https://github.com/open-edge-platform/edge-microvisor-toolkit/blob/3.0/docs/developer-guide/emt-architecture-overview.md#developer-node-mutable-iso-image) and [EMT-S](https://github.com/open-edge-platform/edge-microvisor-toolkit-standalone-node) for full details.

### EMT-D (Mutable)

EMT-D is a **mutable** image that supports standard package management. You can run the `setup.sh` script directly on the node after installing any required dependencies using `dnf` or `tdnf`.

### EMT-S (Immutable)

EMT-S is an **immutable** OS image — standard package managers such as `apt` are not available, and the `setup.sh` script **cannot be run directly on the EMT-S node** (doing so will fail with `sudo: apt: command not found`). Use one of the following approaches:

- **Option 1 (USB provisioning):** While preparing the USB drive, copy the required Docker images under `/opt/user-apps` on the image, then flash and deploy the Edge node.
- **Option 2 (Remote copy):** On a Ubuntu development system, pull/build all required Docker images and prepare the project directory. Copy the entire directory to the EMT-S node without modifications and deploy from there. This approach has been verified to successfully bring up all containers.

If any packages must be installed on EMT-S, use the installroot method (replace `<package>` with the required package name):

```bash
sudo env no_proxy="localhost,127.0.0.1" dnf --installroot=/opt/user-apps/tools/ -y install <package>
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/opt/user-apps/tools/usr/lib/
```

Refer to the [EMT-S documentation](https://github.com/open-edge-platform/edge-microvisor-toolkit-standalone-node) for further details.

## Quick Start with Setup Script

Intel recommends using the automated setup script that handles environment configuration,
dependencies setup, secrets generation, building, and deployment of the Smart
Traffic Intersection Agent.

### 1. Clone the Suite

Go to the target directory of your choice and clone the suite.
<!--If you want to clone a specific release branch, replace `release-2026.1.0` with the desired tag.-->
To learn more on partial cloning, check the [Repository Cloning guide](https://docs.openedgeplatform.intel.com/2026.1/OEP-articles/contribution-guide.html#repository-cloning-partial-cloning).

```bash
git clone --filter=blob:none --sparse --branch release-2026.1.0 https://github.com/open-edge-platform/edge-ai-suites.git
cd edge-ai-suites
git sparse-checkout set metro-ai-suite
cd metro-ai-suite/smart-traffic-intersection-agent/
```

### 2. Set the required environment variables

```bash
export VLM_MODEL_NAME=<supported_model_name>  # eg. OpenVINO/Phi-3.5-vision-instruct-int8-ov, OpenVINO/InternVL2-1B-int4-ov
```

> **IMPORTANT:** See this [disclaimer](#disclaimer-for-using-third-party-ai-models) before using any AI Model.

### 3. Run the Complete Setup

The easiest way to set up the service is to use default configurations without making any
changes. Run the setup script with the `--setup` option to set up the agent quickly with
the default configurations:

```bash
source setup.sh --setup
```

This single command will:

- Set required environment variables with default values
- Set up dependencies required for Smart Traffic Intersection Agent
- Generate the required TLS certificates and authentication files
- Download demo video files for testing
- Build Docker images
- Start services in the Smart Traffic Intersection Agent's application stack

### 4. Run alternative setup options

For a more granular control, run these commands:

```bash
#  Set environment variables without building image or starting any containers
source setup.sh --setenv

# Build service images only (without starting containers)
source setup.sh --build

# Start services without building the image
source setup.sh --run

# Stop services
source setup.sh --stop

# Restart services. The variable `service_type` can be set to `agent`, `deps`, and `all`. Run with --help to get details of each type.
source setup.sh --restart [service_type]

# Clean up containers. Run with --help to get details of the option.
source setup.sh --clean [option]
```

### 5. Access Services

When the script completes, it will show the URLs to access the services. Go to these URLs so
that the respective services can access them in a web browser.

## Running Multiple Instances (Test or Development Only)

For testing or development purposes, you can run multiple instances of the Smart Traffic
Intersection Agent to simulate multiple intersections on the same development machine or node.
The easiest way to do this is to clone and set up the application `n times` in n different
locations on the same machine for `n` required instances.

> **Note:** In production environments, only a single Traffic Intersection Agent instance is
> deployed on a given node.

> **Intel's recommendation:** The number of instances you can run on a single machine depends
> on available resources. Systems with higher resources can support more instances.

### Set up Instance #1

1. Clone the repository into a new directory:

   ```bash
   git clone --depth 1 -b release-2026.1.0 https://github.com/open-edge-platform/edge-ai-suites.git edge-ai-suites-instance1
   cd edge-ai-suites-instance1/metro-ai-suite/smart-traffic-intersection-agent/
   ```

2. Edit the deployment configuration file for instance #1:

   ```bash
   nano src/config/deployment_instance.json
   ```

   Update `name`, `latitude` and `longitude` values as required. Following is a sample value for the Instance #1 deployment config:

   ```json
   {
       "name": "intersection_1",
       "latitude": 37.5879818,
       "longitude": -122.0534334,
       "agent_backend_port": "8081",
       "agent_ui_port": "7860"
   }
   ```

   > **TIPS:** Leave `agent_backend_port` and `agent_ui_port` empty to avoid port conflicts. Random ports would be assigned and application URLs with assigned ports will be shown when setup finishes.

3. Set the required environment variable.

   ```bash
   export VLM_MODEL_NAME=<supported_model_name>  # eg. OpenVINO/Phi-3.5-vision-instruct-int8-ov, OpenVINO/InternVL2-1B-int4-ov
   ```

   > **IMPORTANT:** See this [disclaimer](#disclaimer-for-using-third-party-ai-models) before using any AI Model.

4. Run the setup for instance #1:

   ```bash
   source setup.sh --setup
   ```

### Set up Instance #2

1. Open a new terminal window and move to new directory. Clone the repository into the new directory:

   ```bash
   git clone --depth 1 -b release-2026.1.0 https://github.com/open-edge-platform/edge-ai-suites.git edge-ai-suites-instance2
   cd edge-ai-suites-instance2/metro-ai-suite/smart-traffic-intersection-agent/
   ```

2. Edit the deployment configuration for instance #2:

   ```bash
   nano src/config/deployment_instance.json
   ```

   The following is a sample value for instance #2 deployment configuration:

   ```json
   {
       "name": "intersection_2",
       "latitude": 37.33874,
       "longitude": -121.8852525,
       "agent_backend_port": "8082",
       "agent_ui_port": "7861"
   }
   ```

   > **TIPS:** Leave `agent_backend_port` and `agent_ui_port` empty to avoid port conflicts. Random ports would be assigned and application URLs with assigned ports will be shown when setup finishes.

3. Set the required environment variable.

   ```bash
   export VLM_MODEL_NAME=<supported_model_name>  # eg. OpenVINO/Phi-3.5-vision-instruct-int8-ov, OpenVINO/InternVL2-1B-int4-ov
   ```

   > **IMPORTANT:** See this [disclaimer](#disclaimer-for-using-third-party-ai-models) before using any AI Model.

4. Run Setup for Instance #2

   ```bash
   source setup.sh --setup
   ```

Ensure each instance has their `deployment_instance.json` updated with:

- A unique value for `name` field
- Unique `latitude` and `longitude` co-ordinates
- Different `agent_backend_port` and `agent_ui_port` values to avoid port conflicts. This is
optional. If not specified, an ephemeral port is picked automatically.

### Deploying More Instances

There are functionally no limits on the number of instances that you can spin up to simulate
a multi-node setup using the provided script. However, the machine on which the multiple
deployments are deployed to, will likely start throttling these instances if resource limits
are reached. Hence, deploy new instances only if you have the required resource bandwidth.

To spin-up more instances - say `n number of new instances`, repeat the steps mentioned in
[Set up Instance #2](#set-up-instance-2), by changing to a new directory `n` times.

### Disclaimer for Using Third-Party AI Models

Compliance with all license obligations and responsible use for a third-party AI Model is the user’s responsibility.

## Advanced Environment Configuration

For advanced users who need more control over the configuration, you can configure the following environment variables before running the setup script to override the default behaviour:

```bash
# Set log level to debug to help in debugging issues, default value is info
export LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG

# Select iGPU as the accelerator to perform VLM inference. By default, it is set to CPU
export VLM_DEVICE=GPU

# Other VLM related config, sample values
export VLM_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=600          # Default 300
export VLM_MAX_COMPLETION_TOKENS=1000   # Default 1500
export VLM_TEMPERATURE=0.4              # Default 0.1, range 0-1; controls randomness of response
export VLM_TOP_P=0.3                    # Default 0.1, range 0-1; another parameter to control randomness and diversity of response

# Some sample values for Traffic Intersection configuration
export HIGH_DENSITY_THRESHOLD=5        # Default value 10
export MODERATE_DENSITY_THRESHOLD=3    # Default value 5; Make sure this is less than HIGH_DENSITY_THRESHOLD
export TRAFFIC_BUFFER_DURATION=20      # Default value 30; Analysis window of traffic feeds in seconds

# To mock the weather data (say in airgapped deployment)
export WEATHER_MOCK=True
```

### Customizing the video used by sample application

The video used by this sample application is determined by the configuration in [Smart Intersection application](https://docs.openedgeplatform.intel.com/2026.1/edge-ai-suites/smart-intersection/index.html). Refer to its documentation for further details.

## Accessing the Services

After the setup process completes, the URLs for all services are displayed on the terminal.
You can get the URL for **Traffic Intersection Agent UI** and **Traffic Intersection Agent API Docs**
from the response, and access it in a web browser.

The following is a sample response that you might get at script completion, which displays the
URLs for accessing the relevant services:

![Service endpoints displayed after setup completion](./_assets/service_endpoints.png "Service endpoints after completed setup")

## Upgrading

When upgrading to a new release of the Smart Traffic Intersection Agent, follow these steps
to avoid common issues caused by stale data or configuration from a prior version.

### 1. Pull the Latest Code

```bash
git pull origin <branch-or-tag>
```

### 2. Re-fetch Dependencies

The RI dependency (`deps/metro-vision`) is fetched automatically by `setup.sh` via `git clone`.
After pulling new code, delete the old dependency directory so that `setup.sh --setup` clones
the version required by the new release:

```bash
cd metro-ai-suite/smart-traffic-intersection-agent
rm -rf deps/metro-vision
```

> `setup.sh --setup` automatically re-clones `deps/metro-vision` when the directory is absent.
> Removing it before upgrading ensures the correct version is fetched.

### 3. Clean and Re-setup

For **major version upgrades** (for example, from SceneScape v1.x to v2026.x), stale data
volumes and secrets can cause failures. Clean up old containers and re-run setup:

```bash
source setup.sh --clean --keep-models
export VLM_MODEL_NAME=<supported_model_name>
source setup.sh --setup
```

The `--keep-models` flag preserves downloaded VLM model files so they don't need to be
re-downloaded.

> **IMPORTANT:** If the PostgreSQL version has changed between releases, the existing data
> volume is incompatible. The `--clean` step removes it. If you need to preserve data,
> export it before cleaning.

## Troubleshooting

### Port Conflicts for Traffic Intersection Agent Backend or UI

Ensure that the config file at `src/config/deployment_instance.json` for all instances
(deployed from different directories, in case of multiple deployment on same machine) has
empty values for the `agent_backend_port` and `agent_ui_port` fields:

```bash
    ...
    "agent_backend_port": "",
    "agent_ui_port": ""
    ...
```

Intel recommends to keep these values empty and let the Docker engine use ephemeral ports.
However, if you need to provide an explicit port, ensure port values for all instances are
unique. Additionally, ensure no other external services are running on these ports.

### PostgreSQL Container Fails to Start After Upgrade

**Symptom:** The PostgreSQL container exits immediately with an error like
`incompatible data directory` or `was created by PostgreSQL <old_version>`.

**Cause:** A major PostgreSQL version change (for example, 15 → 17) makes existing data
volumes incompatible.

**Fix:** Remove the stale volume and re-run setup:

```bash
source setup.sh --clean --keep-models
source setup.sh --setup
```

### Secrets or Certificate Errors on Startup

**Symptom:** Services fail to start with TLS or authentication errors, or the
`pgserver.env` file is missing.

**Cause:** A partial or stale secrets directory from a prior installation. The setup script
may skip secret generation if it detects existing files.

**Fix:** Force secret regeneration by cleaning and re-running setup:

```bash
source setup.sh --clean --keep-models
source setup.sh --setup
```

### Demo Video Files Not Found by DL Streamer

**Symptom:** DL Streamer containers exit or log errors about missing video files.

**Cause:** Video filenames may change between releases (for example, `1122north.ts` →
`1122north_h264.ts`). The download step is skipped if files with `.ts` extension already
exist in the video directory.

**Fix:** Remove old video files and re-run setup to download the correct versions:

```bash
rm -f deps/metro-vision/smart-intersection/sample-videos/*.ts
source setup.sh --setup
```


:::{toctree}
:hidden:

./get-started/system-requirements
./get-started/build-from-source
./get-started/deploy-with-helm

:::