Upon starvation, autophagy is dramatically upregulated and initiates the recycling of nutrients. It captures cellular targets into a specialized ab initio formed double membrane autophagosome originating from a few discrete contacts with the ER. However, the molecular mechanisms that control the initiation in space and time are unclear. We will address these questions in a reconstituted system with purified recombinant human proteins, where we aim to define the minimal machinery and identify the concepts and principles that govern this process.