Hi @bsalmi-UW, welcome to the forum 
Our Companion Web Interface Routing documentation covers how to create both endpoints and routes. You shouldn’t need to modify ~/routing.conf, that’s just where the configuration gets stored.
You create your endpoints based on your connected devices. If no devices are connected then you can’t create endpoints for them, or routes to their endpoints.
On an unrelated note, our old Companion Software is no longer being developed. You may wish to look into transferring your system to BlueOS