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Streamline quickstart guide #2523

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After you complete this guide, you'll have a live documentation site ready to customize and update.

## 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 <Tooltip tip="Your documentation's source code where all files and their history are stored. The web editor connects to your documentation repository to access and modify content, or you can edit files locally in your preferred IDE.">repository</Tooltip>.

When you connect your documentation repository to your Mintlify deployment, you can work on your documentation locally or in the web editor and sync any changes to your remote repository.

## Deploy your documentation site

Go to [mintlify.com/start](https://mintlify.com/start) and complete the onboarding process. During onboarding, you'll connect your GitHub account, create or select a repository for your documentation, and install the GitHub App to enable automatic deployments.

After onboarding, your documentation site is deployed and accessible at your `.mintlify.app` URL.

<AccordionGroup>
<Accordion title="Optional: Skip connecting GitHub during onboarding">
If you want to get started quickly without connecting your own repository, you can skip the GitHub connection during onboarding. Mintlify creates a private repository in a private organization and automatically configures the GitHub App for you.

This lets you use the web editor immediately and migrate to your own repository later.
</Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## View your deployed site

Your documentation site is now deployed at `https://<your-project-name>.mintlify.app`.
Go to [mintlify.com/start](https://mintlify.com/start) and complete the onboarding process. Connect your GitHub account, create or select a repository, and install the GitHub App to enable automatic deployments.

Find your exact URL on the **Overview** page of your [dashboard](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/).

<Frame>
<img
src="/images/quickstart/mintlify-domain-light.png"
alt="Overview page of the Mintlify dashboard."
className="block dark:hidden"
/>

<img
src="/images/quickstart/mintlify-domain-dark.png"
alt="Overview page of the Mintlify dashboard."
className="hidden dark:block"
/>
</Frame>

<Tip>
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).
</Tip>
Your documentation site is deployed at `https://<your-project-name>.mintlify.app`. Find your exact URL on the **Overview** page of your [dashboard](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/).

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In general, use active voice instead of passive voice ('is deployed').

## Make your first change

<Tabs>
<Tab title="CLI">
<Steps>
<Step title="Install the CLI">
The CLI requires [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en) v20.17.0 or higher. Use an LTS version for stability.

<CodeGroup>
Install the CLI (requires [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en) v20.17.0+):

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Use 'command-line tool' instead of 'CLI'.

```bash npm
```bash
npm i -g mint
```


```bash pnpm
pnpm add -g mint
```

</CodeGroup>

See [Install the CLI](/installation) for full details and troubleshooting.
</Step>
<Step title="Clone your repository">
If you haven't already cloned your repository locally, follow the instructions in [Clone your repository](/installation#clone-your-repository).
</Step>
<Step title="Edit a page">
Open `index.mdx` in your preferred editor and update the description in the frontmatter:

```mdx
---
title: "Introduction"
description: "Your custom description here"
---
```
<Step title="Edit and preview">
Open `index.mdx` and update the description. Run `mint dev` to preview at `http://localhost:3000`.
</Step>
<Step title="Preview locally">
Run the following command from your documentation directory:

```bash
mint dev
```

View your preview at `http://localhost:3000`.
</Step>
<Step title="Push your changes">
Commit and push your changes to trigger a deployment:
<Step title="Deploy">
Push your changes to deploy automatically:

```bash
git add .
git commit -m "Update description"
git push
```

Mintlify automatically deploys your changes. View your deployment status on the [Overview](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/) page of your dashboard.
</Step>
</Steps>
</Tab>
<Tab title="Web editor">
<Steps>
<Step title="Open the web editor">
Navigate to the [web editor](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/editor) in your dashboard.
</Step>
<Step title="Edit a page">
Open `index.mdx` and update the description in the frontmatter:

```mdx
---
title: "Introduction"
description: "Your custom description here"
---
```
Open `index.mdx` in the [web editor](https://dashboard.mintlify.com/editor) and update the description.
</Step>
<Step title="Publish">
Click the **Publish** button in the top-right of the web editor toolbar.
</Step>
<Step title="View live">
On the [Overview](https://dashboard.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.
Click **Publish** to deploy your changes.
</Step>
</Steps>
</Tab>
</Tabs>

## Next steps

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'Next steps' should use sentence-style capitalization.

<Columns cols={3}>
<Card title="Use the web editor" icon="mouse-pointer-2" horizontal href="/editor/index">
Edit documentation in your browser and preview how your pages will look when published.

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Avoid using 'will'.
</Card>
<Card title="Explore CLI commands" icon="terminal" horizontal href="/installation#additional-commands">
Find broken links, check accessibility, validate OpenAPI specs, and more.
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