Overview #
Atlas is a lightweight, self-hosted knowledge base designed for teams that want fast, searchable documentation without the overhead of a heavyweight CMS. It ships as a single binary and runs anywhere — from a laptop to a Kubernetes cluster.
Before you begin, make sure you have the following prerequisites available on your machine:
- Node.js 18+ or a compatible runtime
- Git for version control of your content
- At least 512 MB of available memory
Installation methods #
Choose the method that best fits your environment. All of them produce an identical, fully-featured installation.
One-liner
Fastest way to start. Installs the latest stable release and scaffolds a sample workspace.
Package manager
Install via npm, Homebrew, or your distro's repository for easy updates.
Docker
Run Atlas in a container with a single compose file. Ideal for servers and CI.
From source
Build the latest commit from the repository for the newest features.
Using the one-liner
The recommended starting point. This command downloads the release, verifies its checksum, and creates a ready-to-edit workspace in ./atlas:
# Install the latest stable release curl -fsSL https://atlas.dev/install.sh | sh # Start the dev server on port 8080 atlas serve --port 8080 --open
--with-sample to the install command to seed your workspace with a full set of example pages you can explore.
Using Docker
For servers and CI pipelines, the container image is the cleanest option. The example below mounts your content directory and exposes the app on port 8080:
services: atlas: image: atlas/atlas:3.2 ports: - "8080:8080" volumes: - ./content:/data/content environment: ATLAS_SECRET: "change-me" restart: unless-stopped
Verifying your install #
Once the server is running, confirm everything is wired up correctly. The table below shows the health endpoints you can use to monitor your instance:
| Endpoint | Purpose | Status |
|---|---|---|
/healthz |
Liveness probe for load balancers | Stable |
/api/version |
Returns the running build version | Stable |
/api/search |
Full-text search across all pages | Beta |
/api/export |
Export the workspace as a bundle | Soon |
ATLAS_SECRET in production. It is used to sign session tokens — leaving it at the default will be flagged by the built-in security audit.
What's next #
Now that Atlas is installed, head over to the Quick Start to create your first page, or dive into Configuration to tailor the workspace to your team's needs.