Getting Started

This section walks you through installing DocPlatform, running it for the first time, and creating a workspace where your team can start writing.

Choose your path

Path Time Best for
Quickstart 5 minutes Evaluate the product fast — single command, see it running
Installation 10 minutes Full setup — choose your method (binary, Docker, source), understand what’s happening
Your First Workspace 10 minutes Already running — learn to create workspaces, connect git, invite your team

Before you begin

DocPlatform has no external dependencies. You don’t need to install a database, a search engine, or a Node.js runtime. The single binary includes everything.

Optional dependencies:

  • Git 2.30+ — only required if you want to sync with a remote git repository
  • SSH key — only required for private git repos over SSH
  • SMTP server — only required for email invitations and password reset (without SMTP, reset tokens print to stdout)

Architecture at a glance

When you run docplatform serve, a single process starts that includes:

  • HTTP server — serves the web editor and API on port 3000
  • SQLite database — stores users, workspaces, pages metadata, and audit logs
  • Bleve search engine — indexes all content for instant full-text search
  • Git engine — syncs content bidirectionally with remote repositories
  • Static frontend — the Tiptap-based web editor, embedded in the binary

All data lives in a single directory (default: .docplatform/), making backups and migrations straightforward — just copy the directory.