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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 create one for you and share a repository URL. You can also find it in the Wallabi app under your app host’s settings — look for the Git URL. If you don’t have an app host yet, reach out to your Wallabi contact.

    Open a terminal and clone it into a folder where you keep projects (e.g., your home directory or a projects folder):

    Terminal window
    cd ~/projects
    git clone https://github.com/wallabidata/app-host-acme-corp.git
    cd app-host-acme-corp

    Replace wallabidata/app-host-acme-corp with the actual repository name from your Git URL. If you’re new to Git, this downloads a copy of your team’s project to your computer.

  2. Run the setup script. This will prompt you for 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

    Follow the prompts to enter your token and 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. Go to your app hosts in the Wallabi app and click on your app host. You’ll see a list of your data apps — click any app name to open it. You can also find app URLs in the dev server’s terminal output, but the Wallabi app is the easiest way to navigate to them.

  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:

  • No error messages about missing configuration in the terminal
  • Your apps listed in the Wallabi app under your app host
  • 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.

If something isn’t working, see the Troubleshooting page.

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”