# Quickstart

By the end of this page you have a documentation site running locally and know where your own content goes.

## Prerequisites

* Docker with the Compose plugin, for the standard path
* or Node.js 22+ and pnpm, for a local preview without containers

## Run the site

```bash
git clone https://github.com/readsmith/readsmith
cd readsmith
```

```bash
cp .env.example .env
```

Open `.env` and set `POSTGRES_PASSWORD`. Everything else has a working default.

```bash
docker compose up
```

Two services start: the app and Postgres with pgvector. There is nothing else to run.

Visit `http://localhost:4321`. You are looking at the bundled sample content, served exactly the way your docs will be.

A working docs site, zero external services.

```bash
git clone https://github.com/readsmith/readsmith
cd readsmith
pnpm install
```

```bash
cd apps/web
pnpm dev
```

The content compiles into a bundle, then the site serves at `http://localhost:4321`. Without a database the app runs docs-only: pages, navigation, and the agent outputs work; search and Ask AI stay off.

## Point it at your docs

Set `READSMITH_CONTENT` to the directory that holds your content, then restart. The directory can be as small as this:

```text
my-docs/
├── index.md
└── guides/
    └── setup.md
```

No configuration file is required: pages are discovered, titles come from your headings, and the navigation builds itself from the folder structure. When you want control, add a `docs.yaml`:

```yaml
site:
  name: My Project
  description: What my project does.
```

Every key it accepts is in the settings reference.

## Write your first page

Create `index.md` in your content directory:

```markdown
# My Project

Welcome. This page is served precompiled, with zero JavaScript.
```

Rebuild (or let the dev server pick it up) and the page is live, present in navigation, listed in `llms.txt`, and indexed for search.

These docs run on Readsmith . That number is interpolated at build time from a `variables` entry in `docs.yaml`, written as `{version}` in MDX pages or `{{version}}` in plain Markdown.