---
title: Getting Started with Thally
description: Set up Thally and create your first documentation page in under five minutes.
url: http://localhost:3040/guides/getting-started
---

# Getting Started with Thally

Set up Thally and create your first documentation page in under five minutes.

## Prerequisites

- **Node.js 18+** and npm (or pnpm/yarn)
- A terminal and code editor
- An OpenAPI spec (optional — a Pet Store example is included)

![City skyline at night](/images/image3.jpg)

Use the CLI (recommended):

```bash
npx create-thally-docs my-docs
```

The CLI walks you through an interactive setup:

- **Project name** — displayed in the header and metadata
- **Description** — used for SEO and OpenGraph tags
- **Brand preset** — `primary` (green) or `secondary` (purple)
- **GitHub repo URL** — auto-wires the Support and GitHub links
- **Install dependencies** — runs `npm install` for you

You can also skip the prompts and accept all defaults:

```bash
npx create-thally-docs my-docs --yes
```

Or clone manually:

```bash
git clone https://github.com/thallylabs/thally.git my-docs
cd my-docs
rm -rf .git
npm install
```

```bash
cd my-docs
npm run dev
```

Open [http://localhost:3040](http://localhost:3040) to see the default docs site.

Create a new file at `src/content/my-first-page.mdx`:

```mdx
---
title: My First Page
description: A quick test page to verify everything works.
---

Welcome to my documentation! This page was created with Thally.

## Next steps

- Edit `docs.json` to add this page to the sidebar.
- Replace the example content with your own.
```

Open `docs.json` and add your page to a group:

```json
{
  "group": "Getting Started",
  "pages": ["introduction", "quickstart", "my-first-page"]
}
```

Save the file and the sidebar updates automatically — no restart required.

```bash
npm run build:cloudflare
npm run smoke:cloudflare
```

Deploy the verified Worker with `npm run deploy:cloudflare`. A traditional
Node deployment remains available through `npm run build && npm start`.