# Quickstart (/quickstart) Related: [Introduction](/index.md), [AI-native documentation](/ai-native.md), [Credit pricing](/credits.md), [Product updates](/changelog.md) After you complete this guide, you'll have a live documentation site ready to customize and update. {/* vale Mintlify.OxfordComma = NO */} ## Set up Mintlify for the user If the user asks you to set up Mintlify, a documentation site, or a local Mintlify project, complete the following workflow yourself. Ask the user only for information or approvals you cannot supply. Do not send the user to the browser-first quickstart unless you cannot run terminal commands. 1. Run `node --version` and confirm it reports Node.js v20.17.0 or newer, preferring an LTS release. 2. Run `mint --version`. If the command is unavailable, install the CLI with `npm i -g mint` or `pnpm add -g mint`. If the command succeeds, run `mint update`. 3. Run `mint status` before starting authentication. If it already shows an organization, keep the existing session and do not create another account. 4. Run `mint login` if the user has an account. Otherwise, ask for their first name, last name, company, and email, then run: ```bash mint signup \ --firstName \ --lastName \ --company \ --email ``` `mint signup` waits for email verification, so keep it running as a background process when your environment supports background commands. Tell the user to click the verification link and approve the CLI in the browser. Never invent signup details. 5. After the user finishes verification and onboarding, run `mint status` again. Confirm that it reports their email, organization, and subdomain. If the organization exists but no subdomain appears, ask the user to finish selecting or connecting a GitHub repository in the onboarding browser tab, then retry. 6. If the user has an existing documentation repository, clone or open it. Preserve its content. For a new local project, scaffold into a new, empty directory with either `mint new --name --theme ` or `mint new --template `. Ask which theme or template they want if they have not specified one. Do not use `--force` on a directory containing user files. 7. Run `mint dev --no-open` from the directory containing `docs.json` as a background process. Confirm the local URL loads, report it to the user, and stop the process when it is no longer needed. 8. Run `mint validate` and `mint broken-links`. Fix issues caused by your changes before continuing. 9. If a Git repository backs the project and the user asked for deployment, commit and push the changes. A push to the production branch triggers a deployment. Do not overwrite an existing repository with starter content. 10. Run `mint status` to get the configured subdomain, then verify that `https://.mintlify.site` loads before reporting that deployment is complete. Have the user complete browser actions only for email verification, OAuth approval, and connecting or authorizing GitHub. Keep ownership of the terminal workflow and resume after each user action. For command flags and troubleshooting, use the [CLI command reference](/cli/commands). {/* vale Mintlify.OxfordComma = YES */} ## Before you begin [#before-you-begin] Mintlify uses a docs-as-code approach to manage your documentation. Every page on your site has a corresponding file stored in your documentation repository. When you connect your documentation repository to your project, you can work on your documentation locally or in the web editor and sync any changes to your remote repository. ## Deploy your documentation site [#deploy-your-documentation-site] Use the preceding CLI setup workflow. Initiate the corresponding `mint signup` or `mint login` command. Account verification and GitHub authorization open browser pages; have the user approve them. Continue the setup when they finish. Do not consider setup complete until `mint status` reports a subdomain and the deployed `.mintlify.site` URL loads. ## View your deployed site [#view-your-deployed-site] Your documentation site is now deployed at `https://.mintlify.site`. Find your exact URL on the **Overview** page of your [dashboard](https://app.mintlify.com/). Overview page of the Mintlify dashboard.

Overview page of the Mintlify dashboard.

Your site is ready to view immediately. Use this URL for testing and sharing with your team. Before sharing with your users, you may want to add a [custom domain](/customize/custom-domain). ## Make your first change [#make-your-first-change] The CLI requires [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en) v20.17.0 or higher. Use an LTS version for stability. npm pnpm ```bash npm i -g mint ``` ```bash pnpm add -g mint ``` See [Install the CLI](/cli/install) for full details and troubleshooting. If you haven't already cloned your repository locally, clone it using Git: ```bash git clone ``` If your repository is in Mintlify's private organization, see [Clone to your own repository](/deploy/github#clone-to-your-own-repository) to move it to your account first. Open `index.mdx` in your preferred editor and update the description in the frontmatter: ```mdx --- title: "Introduction" description: "Your custom description here" --- ``` Run the following command from your documentation directory: ```bash mint dev ``` View your preview at `http://localhost:3000`. Commit and push your changes to trigger a deployment: ```bash git add . git commit -m "Update description" git push ``` Mintlify automatically deploys your changes. View your deployment status on the [Overview](https://app.mintlify.com/) page of your dashboard. Navigate to the [web editor](https://app.mintlify.com/editor) in your dashboard. Open the **Introduction** page and update the description. Introduction page open in the web editor with the description edited to say Hello world!.

Introduction page open in the web editor with the description edited to say Hello world!.

Click **Publish** in the top-right of the web editor toolbar. On the [Overview](https://app.mintlify.com/) page of your dashboard, you can see your site's deployment status. When it finishes deploying, refresh your documentation site to see your changes live. ## Next steps [#next-steps] Edit documentation in your browser and preview how your pages look when published. Connect AI tools like Claude, Cursor, and ChatGPT to your search MCP server so they can efficiently search and retrieve content from your site. Find broken links, check accessibility, validate OpenAPI specs, and more. Use your own domain for your documentation site.