## Before you start

You need:

- An LLM provider API key (see [Providers](/providers))
- [Bun](https://bun.sh) if you run from source — not needed for [managed hosting](https://getnakama.cloud/) or [Docker](/docker)

## Choose a deployment path

### Option 1: Try the demo

Explore a live instance without installing anything. Open [https://demo.getnakama.cloud](https://demo.getnakama.cloud) and sign in with:

- Username: `demo@getnakama.cloud`
- Password: `demo1234`

The demo is shared and reset periodically — use it to click around the dashboard, not for real data or API keys.

### Option 2: Managed hosting

If you do not want to run your own server, use [Nakama Cloud](https://getnakama.cloud/). Sign up, create an instance, and open your dedicated URL (for example `acme.getnakama.cloud`). The first 24 hours are free with no credit card required.

Complete the setup wizard in the browser and you are live. Skip to [First-time setup](/first-time-setup).

### Option 3: Docker

For a single-container deployment:

```bash
docker pull ghcr.io/ahmadrosid/nakama:latest
docker run -d -p 4310:4310 -v nakama-data:/nakama/data --name nakama ghcr.io/ahmadrosid/nakama:latest
```

Open `http://localhost:4310`. See [Docker](/docker) for build-from-source, volumes, and production notes.

### Option 4: Local development

Clone the repository and install dependencies:

```bash
git clone https://github.com/ahmadrosid/nakama.git
cd nakama
bun install
bun run dev:web
```

Open:

- Dashboard: `http://localhost:3003`
- API server: `http://127.0.0.1:4310`
- API docs: `http://127.0.0.1:4310/docs`

If you only want the API server:

```bash
bun run dev:server
```

On first run, Nakama asks for your provider and API key if they are not configured yet. Settings are saved in `~/.nakama/config.ini`.

## First-time setup

After Nakama is running:

1. Open the dashboard
2. Create the first admin account and first organization
3. Configure your model provider
4. Create or review profiles
5. Send a test message to the default profile

See [First-time setup](/first-time-setup) for the wizard walkthrough and [Providers](/providers) for supported LLM backends.

## Common next steps

### Connect a channel

Use the web dashboard, [CLI](/cli), Telegram, WhatsApp, or Discord:

- [CLI](/cli)
- [Telegram](/telegram)
- [WhatsApp](/whatsapp)
- [Discord](/discord)

### Understand the mental model

Most of Nakama fits four ideas: organization, profile, tool access, and channel. See [Overview](/overview).

## Next steps

- [Overview](/overview) — what Nakama is and how to think about it
- [Providers](/providers) — LLM API keys and model setup
- [Profiles](/profiles) — how to define each bot
- [Multi-tenancy](/multi-tenancy) — orgs, members, and roles
- [Documentation hub](/docs/) — full docs map