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Getting Started

This guide walks you through setting up your local environment so you can start building data apps. It takes about 10 minutes.

Make sure you’ve completed the Prerequisites first.

First-Time Setup

Section titled “First-Time Setup”

  1. Get your app host repository. An app host is the project that contains your data apps — think of it as your team’s workspace. Your Wallabi contact will share a repository URL with you. Open a terminal and clone it:

    Terminal window
    git clone <YOUR_REPOSITORY_URL>
    cd <REPOSITORY_NAME>

    If you’re new to Git, this downloads a copy of your team’s project to your computer.

  2. Run the setup script. You’ll need your Wallabi API token (from Prerequisites) and a personal slug — a short name that identifies your dev environment (e.g., jane-dev, michael-test):

    Terminal window
    pnpm run setup -- --token wlb_sk_YOUR_TOKEN --slug your-slug

    This creates your personal development environment and saves your configuration locally.

  3. Install and build:

    Terminal window
    pnpm install
    pnpm run build

  4. Start the dev server:

    Terminal window
    pnpm run dev

  5. Open your apps. The terminal will show URLs for each data app. Open them in your browser — you should see your apps loading with real data. If the browser asks for permission to use local resources, click “Allow.”

  6. Start your AI assistant. Open a second terminal window in the same folder and run:

    Terminal window
    claude

    This launches Claude Code, an AI assistant that connects to your dev server and your data. You can ask it to build new apps, modify existing ones, or explore your data — all in plain language.

Checking That Everything Works

Section titled “Checking That Everything Works”

After starting the dev server, you should see:

  • URLs for each data app listed in the terminal
  • No error messages about missing configuration
  • Apps displaying data when you open them in your browser

After starting Claude Code, try asking:

  • “What data sources are available?”
  • “Describe the tables in [your data source name]”

If it can answer these questions, you’re all set.

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”
ProblemWhat to do
Missing environment variablesCheck that the setup script ran successfully — it creates a .env.local file with your config
Authentication errorsYour API token may be expired — generate a new one in the Wallabi app under Settings > API Tokens
Claude Code can’t see your dataMake sure the dev server is running first (step 4), then restart Claude Code
Build failuresStop the dev server, run pnpm run build, then restart with pnpm run dev

For more detailed troubleshooting, see the Troubleshooting page.

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”