> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://developers.alephant.io/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://developers.alephant.io/_mcp/server.

# Deployment Modes

> Compare Lite and Standard deployments, understand conditional controls, and choose the mode that fits your organization.

Deployment mode determines the foundation that AIvis can expose to administrators. Choose the mode before planning knowledge, connector, or indexing work.

## How to choose

Choose mode by whether organization knowledge must enter the retrieval path, not only by machine resources.

| Question                                                                       | Recommendation                                                                              |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Do you only need chat, model access, file uploads, or a small Agent trial?     | Start with Lite to reduce deployment components and operational surface.                    |
| Do you need Feishu, GitLab, web, or file repositories as searchable knowledge? | Use Standard so OpenSearch, indexing workers, and storage are available.                    |
| Do you need to demonstrate full knowledge Q\&A and document-set governance?    | Use Standard and prepare connector credentials and indexing scope.                          |
| Does security require minimum network exposure?                                | In both Lite and Standard, expose only the entry service and keep backend services private. |

## Lite and Standard

| Mode     | Vector database | Connectors and indexing | Best fit                                                           |
| -------- | --------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Lite     | Not included    | Not available           | Deployments that do not require vector indexing                    |
| Standard | Supported       | Supported               | Deployments that need connectors, document knowledge, and indexing |

## Feature availability

| Capability                       | Availability                                               |
| -------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| Models and Agent administration  | Available when included in the deployment configuration    |
| Vector indexing                  | Requires Standard mode because Lite has no vector database |
| Connectors and document indexing | Requires Standard mode                                     |
| Craft                            | Shown only when the deployment declares it available       |

## Deployment-specific controls

Do not assume that a control is permanently available because it appears in another deployment. Server configuration and administrator settings determine which conditional capabilities are shown.

Hooks require the applicable server configuration. Tracing is available only for supported deployment forms. Query History can be disabled or hidden by an administrator, and Billing depends on the deployment's subscription or license state.

## Choose a mode

Choose Lite when vector indexing and connectors are outside the deployment's needs. Choose Standard before configuring connectors, document sets, or index settings; changing expectations after users begin work can delay their access to knowledge features.

## Production recommendation

Before production rollout, fix the following decisions and record them in the operations runbook:

1. Entry domain, TLS, reverse proxy, and allowed network range.
2. Lite or Standard mode, and whether OpenSearch snapshots are required.
3. Model providers, credential storage, and key rotation owner.
4. Initial connectors, indexing scope, document-set owner, and reindexing strategy.
5. Agent launch process, Actions approval model, and rollback path.

## Next steps

After confirming the mode, configure models and roles. If you use Standard, plan the connector credentials and indexing scope that the organization requires.