Quick Start

Get VectorFlow running in under 5 minutes. This guide walks you through starting the server with Docker Compose and completing the initial setup.

Prerequisites

Docker and Docker Compose (v2+)
A machine with at least 1 CPU core and 1 GB RAM

Download and configure

Create a directory for VectorFlow, download the Docker Compose file, and create an environment file with your secrets.

mkdir vectorflow && cd vectorflow

# Download the server compose file
curl -sSfL -o docker-compose.yml \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TerrifiedBug/vectorflow/main/docker/server/docker-compose.yml

Create a .env file next to docker-compose.yml:

cat > .env << 'EOF'
# Database password — use a random 32+ character string
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=changeme

# Session & encryption key — generate with: openssl rand -base64 32
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=changeme
EOF

Replace both changeme values with strong, random strings before starting. You can generate them with:

openssl rand -base64 32

NEXTAUTH_URL is optional. When omitted, VectorFlow infers the URL from the incoming Host header. Set it explicitly if you place VectorFlow behind a reverse proxy (e.g., https://vectorflow.example.com).

Start VectorFlow

docker compose up -d

Docker pulls the VectorFlow server and PostgreSQL images, runs database migrations automatically, and starts both services. You can follow the logs with:

docker compose logs -f vectorflow

Wait until you see Starting VectorFlow... in the output.

Complete the setup wizard

Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000.

The setup wizard walks you through creating your first admin account. Enter a username, email, and password, then click Create Account.

Once logged in, you land on the VectorFlow dashboard.

You're ready! VectorFlow is running and your admin account is set up. Time to deploy some agents and build your first pipeline.

What's in the stack

The Docker Compose file starts two containers:

Container	Image	Purpose
`vectorflow-server`	`ghcr.io/terrifiedbug/vectorflow-server`	Next.js application, tRPC API, pipeline validation
`vectorflow-postgres`	`postgres:17-alpine`	Database for pipelines, environments, users, and audit logs

Three named volumes persist data across restarts:

vectorflow-pgdata -- PostgreSQL data
vectorflow-data -- VectorFlow application state
vectorflow-backups -- Database backups

Next steps

Deploy Agents -- enroll your first fleet node
Your First Pipeline -- build and deploy a pipeline in the visual editor
Deploy the Server -- production deployment options, TLS, and environment variables