# 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`.