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Rewrite quickstart page with improved structure and clarity #1149

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237 changes: 86 additions & 151 deletions quickstart.mdx
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---
title: "Quickstart"
description: "Deploy your documentation in minutes"
description: "Get your documentation site running in under 5 minutes"
icon: "rocket"
---

This quickstart guide shows you how to set up and deploy your documentation site in minutes.

After completing this guide, you will have a live documentation site ready to customize and expand.
Build and deploy beautiful documentation in minutes. This guide walks you through creating your first documentation site from setup to deployment.

<Info>

**Prerequisites**: Before you begin, [create an account](https://mintlify.com/start) and complete onboarding.

**Prerequisites**: You need a [Mintlify account](https://mintlify.com/start) to get started.
</Info>

## Getting started
## Create your site

After you complete the onboarding process, your documentation site automatically deploys to a unique URL with this format:
Sign up for Mintlify and complete the onboarding flow. Your documentation site deploys automatically to:

```
https://<your-project-name>.mintlify.app
```

Find your URL on the Overview page of your [dashboard](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/).
Your site is live immediately. Find the URL in your [dashboard](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/).

<Frame>
<img src="/images/quickstart/mintlify-domain-light.png" alt="Mintlify Domain" className="block dark:hidden" />
<img src="/images/quickstart/mintlify-domain-dark.png" alt="Mintlify Domain" className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

Your site's URL is available immediately. Use this URL for testing and sharing with your team while you are setting up your docs site.
## Connect GitHub

### Install the GitHub App
Connect your GitHub repository to enable automatic deployments:

Mintlify provides a GitHub App that automates deployment when you push changes to your repository.

Install the GitHub App by following the instructions from the onboarding checklist or your dashboard.

1. Navigate to **Settings** in your Mintlify dashboard.
2. Select **GitHub App** from the sidebar.
3. Select **Install GitHub App**. This opens a new tab to the GitHub App installation page.
4. Select the organization or user account where you want to install the app.
5. Select the repositories that you want to connect.
1. Go to **Settings** → **GitHub App** in your dashboard
2. Click **Install GitHub App**
3. Select your organization and repositories
4. Authorize your GitHub account under **Settings** → **My Profile**

<Frame>
<img src="/images/quickstart/github-app-installation-light.png" alt="GitHub App Installation" className="block dark:hidden" />
<img src="/images/quickstart/github-app-installation-dark.png" alt="GitHub App Installation" className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

<Info>
Update the GitHub App permissions if you move your documentation to a different repository.
</Info>

### Authorize your GitHub account

1. Navigate to **Settings** in your Mintlify dashboard.
2. Select **My Profile** from the sidebar.
3. Select **Authorize GitHub account**. This opens a new tab to the GitHub authorization page.

<Info>
An admin for your GitHub organization may need to authorize your account depending on your organization settings.
</Info>

## Editing workflows

Mintlify offers two workflows for creating and maintaining your documentation:
## Choose your workflow

<Card title="Code-based workflow" icon="terminal" horizontal href="#code-based-workflow">
For users who prefer working with existing tools in their local environment. Click to jump to this section.
</Card>
Pick the editing approach that works best for you:

<Card title="Web editor workflow" icon="mouse-pointer-2" horizontal href="#web-editor-workflow">
For users who prefer a visual interface in their web browser. Click to jump to this section.
</Card>
<CardGroup cols={2}>
<Card title="Local development" icon="terminal" href="#local-development">
Edit files locally with your favorite tools
</Card>
<Card title="Web editor" icon="mouse-pointer-2" href="#web-editor">
Edit directly in your browser with a visual interface
</Card>
</CardGroup>

## Code-based workflow
## Local development

The code-based workflow integrates with your existing development environment and Git repositories. This workflow is best for technical teams who want to manage documentation alongside code.
Work with documentation files in your local environment alongside your code.

### Install the CLI

To work locally with your documentation, install the Command Line Interface (CLI), called [mint](https://www.npmjs.com/package/mint), by running this command in your terminal:
Install the Mintlify CLI to preview changes locally:

<CodeGroup>
```bash npm
npm i -g mint
```

```bash pnpm
pnpm add -g mint
```
</CodeGroup>

<Info>
You need Node.js installed on your machine. If you encounter installation issues, check the troubleshooting guide.
</Info>

### Edit the documentation
### Make your first edit

After setting up your environment, you can start editing your documentation files. For example, update the title of the introduction page:

1. Open your repository created during onboarding.
2. Open `index.mdx` and locate the top of the file:
1. Clone your repository from the onboarding process
2. Open `index.mdx` and update the title:

```mdx index.mdx
---
title: "Introduction"
description: "This is the introduction to the documentation"
---
```

3. Update the `title` field to `"Hello World"`.

```mdx index.mdx {2}
---
title: "Hello World"
description: "This is the introduction to the documentation"
title: "My Documentation"
description: "Welcome to my docs"
---
```

### Preview the changes
### Preview locally

To preview the changes locally, run the following command:
Run the development server:

```bash
mint dev
```

Your preview will be available at `localhost:3000`.
Your site runs at `localhost:3000` with live reloading.

<Frame>
<img src="/images/quickstart/mintlify-dev-light.png" alt="Mintlify Dev" className="block dark:hidden" />
<img src="/images/quickstart/mintlify-dev-dark.png" alt="Mintlify Dev" className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

### Push the changes
### Deploy changes

When you are ready to publish your changes, push them to your repository.
Push your changes to GitHub. Mintlify automatically builds and deploys your updates.

Mintlify automatically detects the changes, builds your documentation, and deploys the updates to your site. Monitor the deployment status in your GitHub repository commit history or the [dashboard](https://dashboard.mintlify.com).
## Web editor

After the deployment completes, your latest update will be available at `<your-project-name>.mintlify.app`.
Edit documentation directly in your browser with a visual interface.

<Card title="Jump to adding a custom domain" icon="arrow-down" href="#adding-a-custom-domain" horizontal>
Optionally, skip the web editor workflow and jump to adding a custom domain.
</Card>
### Access the editor

## Web editor workflow

The web editor workflow provides a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) interface for creating and editing documentation. This workflow is best for people who want to work in their web browser without additional local development tools.

### Access the web editor

1. Log in to your [dashboard](https://dashboard.mintlify.com).
2. Select **Editor** on the left sidebar.

<Info>
If you have not installed the GitHub App, you will be prompted to install the app when you open the web editor.
</Info>

<Frame>
<img alt="The Mintlify web editor in the visual editor mode" src="/images/quickstart/web-editor-light.png" className="block dark:hidden" />
<img alt="The Mintlify web editor in the visual editor mode" src="/images/quickstart/web-editor-dark.png" className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

### Edit the documentation

In the web editor, you can navigate through your documentation files in the sidebar. Let's update the introduction page:

Find and select `index.mdx` in the file explorer.

Then, in the editor, update the title field to "Hello World".
1. Open your [dashboard](https://dashboard.mintlify.com)
2. Click **Editor** in the sidebar

<Frame>
<img alt="Editing in Web Editor" src="/images/quickstart/web-editor-editing-light.png" className="block dark:hidden" />
<img alt="Editing in Web Editor" src="/images/quickstart/web-editor-editing-dark.png" className="hidden dark:block" />
<img alt="The Mintlify web editor" src="/images/quickstart/web-editor-light.png" className="block dark:hidden" />
<img alt="The Mintlify web editor" src="/images/quickstart/web-editor-dark.png" className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

<Tip>
The editor provides a rich set of formatting tools and components. Type <kbd>/</kbd> in the editor to open the command menu and access these tools.
</Tip>

### Publish your changes
### Edit content

When you're satisfied with your edits, select the **Publish** button in the top-right corner. Your changes are immediately deployed to your documentation site.
Select any file from the sidebar to start editing. The editor provides rich formatting tools and live preview.

<Tip>
Use branches to preview and review changes through pull requests before deploying to your live site.
Type `/` to open the command menu and access components, formatting, and more.
</Tip>

For more details about using the web editor, including using branches and pull requests to collaborate and preview changes, see our [web editor documentation](/editor/getting-started).

## Adding a custom domain

While your `<your-project-name>.mintlify.app` subdomain works well for testing and development, most teams prefer using a custom domain for production documentation.
### Publish changes

To add a custom domain, navigate to the [Domain Setup](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/settings/deployment/custom-domain) page in your dashboard.
Click **Publish** to deploy your changes instantly.

<Frame>
<img src="/images/quickstart/custom-domain-light.png" alt="Custom Domain" className="block dark:hidden" />
<img src="/images/quickstart/custom-domain-dark.png" alt="Custom Domain" className="hidden dark:block" />
<img alt="Publishing changes" src="/images/quickstart/web-editor-editing-light.png" className="block dark:hidden" />
<img alt="Publishing changes" src="/images/quickstart/web-editor-editing-dark.png" className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

Enter your domain (for example, `docs.yourcompany.com`) and follow the provided instructions to configure DNS settings with your domain provider.
## Add a custom domain

Replace your `.mintlify.app` URL with your own domain:

1. Go to **Settings** → **Custom Domain** in your dashboard
2. Enter your domain (e.g., `docs.company.com`)
3. Add this DNS record with your domain provider:

<Table>
| Record Type | Name | Value | TTL |
|-------------|------|-------|-----|
| CNAME | docs (or subdomain) | cname.mintlify.app | 3600 |
| Type | Name | Value | TTL |
|------|------|-------|-----|
| CNAME | docs | cname.mintlify.app | 3600 |
</Table>

<Info>
DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate, though changes often complete much sooner.
</Info>
<Frame>
<img src="/images/quickstart/custom-domain-light.png" alt="Custom Domain Setup" className="block dark:hidden" />
<img src="/images/quickstart/custom-domain-dark.png" alt="Custom Domain Setup" className="hidden dark:block" />
</Frame>

## Next steps
DNS changes typically take 5-30 minutes to propagate.

Congratulations! You have successfully deployed your documentation site with Mintlify. Here are suggested next steps to enhance your documentation:
## What's next?

<Card title="Configure your global settings" icon="settings" href="settings" horizontal>
Configure site-wide styling, navigation, integrations, and more with the `docs.json` file.
</Card>
<Card title="Customize your theme" icon="paintbrush" href="themes" horizontal>
Learn how to customize colors, fonts, and the overall appearance of your documentation site.
</Card>
<Card title="Organize navigation" icon="map" href="navigation" horizontal>
Structure your documentation with intuitive navigation to help users find what they need.
</Card>
<Card title="Add interactive components" icon="puzzle" href="/components/accordions" horizontal>
Enhance your documentation with interactive components like accordions, tabs, and code samples.
</Card>
<Card title="Set up API references" icon="code" href="/api-playground/overview" horizontal>
Create interactive API references with OpenAPI and AsyncAPI specifications.
</Card>
Your documentation site is live! Here's how to make it even better:

## Troubleshooting
<CardGroup cols={2}>
<Card title="Customize appearance" icon="paintbrush" href="themes">
Change colors, fonts, and branding
</Card>
<Card title="Organize navigation" icon="map" href="navigation">
Structure your content with menus and groups
</Card>
<Card title="Add components" icon="puzzle" href="/components/accordions">
Use tabs, callouts, code blocks, and more

Check warning on line 167 in quickstart.mdx

View check run for this annotation

Mintlify / Mintlify Validation (mintlify) - vale-spellcheck

quickstart.mdx#L167 

Did you really mean 'callouts'?
</Card>
<Card title="API documentation" icon="code" href="/api-playground/overview">
Generate interactive API references
</Card>
</CardGroup>

If you encounter issues during the setup process, check these common troubleshooting solutions:
## Need help?

<AccordionGroup>
<Accordion title="Local preview not working">
Make sure you have Node.js v19+ installed and that you run the `mint dev` command from the directory containing your `docs.json` file.
Ensure Node.js v19+ is installed and run `mint dev` from your project root directory.
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="Changes not reflecting on live site">
Deployment can take upwards to a few minutes. Check your GitHub Actions (for code-based workflow) or deployment logs in the Mintlify dashboard to ensure there are no build errors.
<Accordion title="Changes not appearing">
Check your GitHub Actions or dashboard deployment logs for build errors. Deployments typically take 1-3 minutes.
</Accordion>
<Accordion title="Custom domain not connecting">
Verify that your DNS records are set up correctly and allow sufficient time for DNS propagation (up to 48 hours). You can use tools like [DNSChecker](https://dnschecker.org) to verify your CNAME record.
<Accordion title="Custom domain issues">
Verify your CNAME record is correct and allow time for DNS propagation. Use [DNSChecker](https://dnschecker.org) to verify.
</Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>