---
title: Setup
description: Use this page to set up the Dograh contributor environment, with a devcontainer-first workflow.
---
<Note>
If the steps below do not work for you, please open an issue on [GitHub](https://github.com/dograh-hq/dograh/issues).
</Note>

### Recommended: Devcontainer setup

#### System Requirements
- Git
- Docker Desktop or another local Docker engine
- A Dev Container-compatible editor. The most tested path is VS Code with the [Dev Containers extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers).

<Note>
The checked-in `.devcontainer/` follows the Dev Containers specification. VS Code is the default recommendation because its support is the most mature and best documented, but the same setup should also work in tools like Cursor and JetBrains IDEs that support Dev Containers.
</Note>

1. Fork the Dograh repository at https://github.com/dograh-hq/dograh
2. Clone **your fork**:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/<GITHUB_HANDLE>/dograh
cd dograh
```
If you cloned `dograh-hq/dograh` directly instead of your fork, run `bash scripts/setup_fork.sh` once inside the container after it boots to reset `origin` and `upstream`.

3. Open the repository in your Dev Container-compatible editor and start the devcontainer.
If you are using VS Code, run **Dev Containers: Reopen in Container**.
4. Wait for the first container boot to finish. The post-create bootstrap will:
- initialize the `pipecat` submodule
- create `venv/` with Python 3.13
- install backend dependencies with `scripts/setup_requirements.sh --dev`
- install `ui/` dependencies and `api/mcp_server/ts_validator` dependencies
- create `api/.env` and `ui/.env` if they do not already exist (rewriting docker network hostnames in `api/.env`)
- start `postgres`, `redis`, and `minio` via Docker Compose
5. Start the backend from a terminal inside the container:
```bash
bash scripts/start_services_dev.sh
```
6. Start the UI from another terminal inside the container:
```bash
cd ui
npm run dev -- --hostname 0.0.0.0
```
7. Verify that the backend is healthy:
```bash
curl -X GET localhost:8000/api/v1/health
```
8. Open the app at `http://localhost:3000`.

You can tail backend logs from inside the container with:

```bash
tail -f logs/latest/*.log
```

The backend reads `api/.env` both on the host and inside the devcontainer. The post-create bootstrap rewrites `DATABASE_URL`, `REDIS_URL`, and `MINIO_ENDPOINT` to docker network aliases (`postgres`, `redis`, `minio`) when it creates the file. If you already had an `api/.env` from host development with `localhost` hosts for those, edit it before starting the backend inside the devcontainer.

#### Restarting the backend
Re-run the same start script to restart. It reads the PID files under `run/`, terminates the previous services along with their descendants, and starts fresh ones.

```bash
bash scripts/start_services_dev.sh
```

<Note>
`uvicorn` runs with `--reload --reload-dir api`, so edits under `api/` are picked up automatically. The other services (`ari_manager`, `campaign_orchestrator`, `arq`) do not auto-reload; re-run the start script after changing code they execute.
</Note>

### Fallback: host-managed setup
Use this only if you do not want to use the devcontainer.

#### System Requirements
- Git
- Node.js 24 to run the UI
- Python 3.13 to run the backend
- Docker to run Postgres, Redis, and MinIO locally

1. Run the contributor bootstrap. It configures `origin` (your fork) and `upstream` (`dograh-hq/dograh`), initializes the pipecat submodule, creates the Python venv, and copies the `.env` templates.
<CodeGroup>
```bash macOS/Linux
bash scripts/setup_fork.sh
```
```powershell Windows
.\scripts\setup_fork.ps1
```
</CodeGroup>
2. Activate the virtual environment:
<CodeGroup>
```bash macOS/Linux
source venv/bin/activate
```
```powershell Windows
.\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
```
</CodeGroup>
3. Ensure your local Node version is 24:
```bash
nvm use 24
```
4. Install UI dependencies:
```bash
cd ui && npm install && cd ..
```
5. Start the local Docker services:
```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose-local.yaml up -d
```
6. Install Python requirements:
<CodeGroup>
```bash macOS/Linux
bash scripts/setup_requirements.sh --dev
```
```powershell Windows
.\scripts\setup_requirements.ps1 -Dev
```
</CodeGroup>
7. Start the backend services:
<CodeGroup>
```bash macOS/Linux
bash scripts/start_services_dev.sh
```
```powershell Windows
.\scripts\start_services_dev.ps1
```
</CodeGroup>
8. Start the UI:
```bash
cd ui && npm run dev
```
9. Open the application on `http://localhost:3000`.

### Keeping your fork in sync with upstream
The bootstrap script configures two remotes: `origin` (your fork, where you push) and `upstream` (`dograh-hq/dograh`, where new commits land). To pull in upstream changes:

```bash
git fetch upstream
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main
git push origin main
```

Check your remotes any time with `git remote -v`. You should see:

```bash
origin    https://github.com/<YOUR_HANDLE>/dograh.git (fetch/push)
upstream  https://github.com/dograh-hq/dograh.git    (fetch/push)
```

<Note>
Always push feature branches to **`origin`** (your fork), then open a pull request against `dograh-hq/dograh:main`. Never push directly to `upstream`.
</Note>

### Next Steps
The repository ships with `AGENTS.md` and `CLAUDE.md` so coding agents can navigate the codebase quickly. Adjust them locally if you need agent-specific guidance for your workflow.
