---
title: Getting started
tags:
  - Developer
  - Technical documentation
  - Code
  - Programming
sidebar_position: 1
---

## Set up your development environment

### Prerequisites

- **Node.js 24.18 or newer**: You can download it from the [official website](https://nodejs.org/).
- **Corepack**: Run `corepack enable` so the repository selects its pinned pnpm 11 version.
- **Git**: You can download it from the [official website](https://git-scm.com/).
- **Docker or Docker Desktop**: Required for the Redis service and the developer Docker CLI.
- **Go 1.25+**: Required only for the developer Docker CLI. You can download it from the [official website](https://go.dev/).
- **GitHub CLI**: Required only for pull-request image features. Install it from the [official website](https://cli.github.com/), then authenticate with `gh auth login`.

The versions in the root `package.json` are the supported baseline. Let Corepack select the repository version instead
of installing an unrelated global pnpm:

```sh
corepack enable
corepack install
pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
```

### Run the Homarr application

1. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`.
2. Set `DB_URL` to an absolute writable SQLite file path.
3. Keep Redis and the optional local databases running in one terminal.
4. Apply migrations and start Next.js in another terminal.

```sh
cp .env.example .env
```

Terminal 1:

```sh
pnpm docker:dev
```

Terminal 2:

```sh
pnpm db:migration:sqlite:run
pnpm dev
```

The infrastructure command remains in the foreground. Open `http://127.0.0.1:3000`; the first user created through
Homarr becomes the instance administrator.
Use `pnpm docker:dev:up` instead when you only need Redis in the background. Running the migration also seeds the
default data; use `pnpm db:seed` to seed it explicitly later.

### Run PocketBase and documentation

Start PocketBase in another terminal:

```sh
cp apps/workshop/.env.example apps/workshop/.env
docker compose --env-file apps/workshop/.env -f apps/workshop/docker-compose.yml up --build workshop
```

Then start Docusaurus in a third terminal:

```sh
WORKSHOP_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8090 pnpm dev:docs
```

PocketBase runs on port 8090 and Docusaurus on port 3003. Stopping the services preserves the PocketBase volume.

Open `http://127.0.0.1:8090/_/` and create the first PocketBase superuser. The Workshop UI is available at
`http://127.0.0.1:3003/workshop`.

Point Homarr at the local services with:

```dotenv
HOMARR_WEBSITE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:3003
WORKSHOP_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8090
WORKSHOP_WEB_URL=http://127.0.0.1:3003/workshop
```

Restart `pnpm dev` after changing `.env`. GitHub OAuth is optional locally. See
[`apps/workshop/README.md`](https://github.com/homarr-labs/homarr/blob/HEAD/apps/workshop/README.md) for OAuth,
Workshop moderator promotion, logs, tests, backup, restore, stopping, and intentional volume reset.

### URL testing

Docusaurus reads `HOMARR_WEBSITE_URL` and `WORKSHOP_API_URL` when it starts or builds. Homarr also reads
`WORKSHOP_WEB_URL` when its server starts, so these values do not rely on `NEXT_PUBLIC_*` build variables. Test a
separate API origin before release:

```sh
HOMARR_WEBSITE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:3003 \
WORKSHOP_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8090 \
WORKSHOP_WEB_URL=http://127.0.0.1:3003/workshop \
pnpm dev:docs
```

### Useful commands

- `pnpm dev` — Next.js on port 3000.
- `pnpm dev:benchmark` — authenticated-board benchmark; readiness-only `--smoke` runs are not performance claims.
- `pnpm dev:cli -- dev` — browse and run local images and remote pull-request images.
- `pnpm dev:cli -- build <name>` — build the current checkout as `homarr:<name>`.
- `pnpm dev:cli -- build --pr <number>` — build a pull request from a temporary checkout.
- `pnpm dev:cli -- rebuild <name>` — rebuild an image from its recorded checkout or pull request.
- `pnpm dev:cli:install` — optionally install the developer CLI as a `homarr` binary.
- `pnpm dev:docs` — Docusaurus only on port 3003.
- `pnpm docker:workshop` — local PocketBase through Docker Compose.
- `pnpm docker:dev:up` — Redis development service in the background.
- `pnpm cli` — Homarr operations CLI.
- `pnpm db:migration:sqlite:run` — create or update a SQLite database.
- `pnpm db:seed` — seed the default database data explicitly.
- `pnpm db:studio` — inspect the database.
- `pnpm format` / `pnpm format:fix` — check or apply oxfmt.
- `pnpm lint` / `pnpm lint:fix` — check or apply oxlint.
- `pnpm typecheck` — typecheck all workspaces.
- `pnpm test` — unit and contract suites.
- `pnpm test:workshop` — disposable Workshop integration suite.
- `pnpm build` — production monorepo build.
- `docker build -t homarr .` — build a production Docker image.
- `docker run -p 7575:7575 -e SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY='your_64_character_hex_string' homarr:<name>` — run it.