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+# Getting started
+
+## Preparing for running the backend code
+
+**ToDo:** Document how to setup development environment using docker.
+
+1. Clone the repository with `git clone https://github.com/hedgedoc/hedgedoc.git`
+   (cloning is the preferred way, but you can also download and unzip a release)
+
+2. Enter the directory and run `yarn install`.
+
+3. Run `cp .env.example .env` to use the example configuration.
+
+   Alternatively, set up a [.env](../config/index.md) or set up
+   [environment variables](../config/index.md) yourself.
+   
+4. Run `openssl rand -hex 16 | sed -E 's/(.*)/HD_SESSION_SECRET=\1/' >> .env` to generate a session secret if you have not set one manually before.
+ 
+ ## Preparing for running the frontend code
+
+**ToDo:** Document how to setup development environment using docker.
+
+1. Clone the repository with `git clone https://github.com/hedgedoc/react-client.git`
+   (cloning is the preferred way, but you can also download and unzip a release)
+
+2. Enter the directory and run `yarn install`.
+
+## Running the Code
+
+Now that everything is in place, we can start HedgeDoc:
+
+**ToDo:** Document how to build the frontend and backend or remove this paragraph entirely.
+
+## Running the Code with Auto-Reload
+
+The commands above are fine for production, but you're a developer and surely
+you want to change things. You would need to restart both commands whenever you
+change something. Luckily, you can run these commands that will automatically
+rebuild the backend andfrontend or restart the server if necessary.
+
+The commands will stay active in your terminal, so you will need multiple tabs
+to run both at the same time.
+
+1. Enter the `react-frontend` directory and use `yarn start` if you want webpack to continuously rebuild the frontend
+   code.
+   
+   **Note:** Currently, this will not result in the backend and frontend communicating with each other.
+   
+   **Note:** You can run `yarn start:for-real-backend` to start a frontend, which tries to connect to a local backend.
+
+2. To auto-reload the server, enter the `hedgedoc` directory and run `yarn start:dev`.
+
+## Testing
+
+- The backend will be available at `http://localhost:3000`.
+- The frontend will be available at `http://localhost:3001`.