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Getting Started

Clay turns a folder of Markdown files into a documentation website. You write pages in docs/, describe the site in clay.yaml, and Clay builds static files you can publish anywhere. No templates, no theme to configure, no JavaScript to write.

IntroductionWhat Clay is, what it does for you and how a Clay site comes together.InstallationInstall Clay into a project with npm, pnpm or yarn, or run it without installing anything.Quick StartBuild your first Clay site from an empty folder in five minutes.Project StructureThe files of a Clay project, what each one does and what belongs in git.

#Your first five minutes

Install Clay in your project:
```
npm install --save-dev clay-doc
```
Name the site in clay.yaml:
clay.yaml
```
title: "My Project"
```

Write a page, docs/index.md:

docs/index.md

# Welcome

This is the documentation of **My Project**.

Watch it live with npx clay dev, at http://localhost:3000.
Build it with npx clay build. The site is in publish/public, ready to upload.

The quick start goes through the same steps in more detail, with a section of its own and a look at the result.

#What you need


Node.js	20.19 or newer, which comes with npm, see installation
Your docs	Markdown files, or the wish to write some. Existing READMEs work as they are
An editor	Any. `clay dev` shows every change in the browser right away
A host	Later, to publish: GitHub Pages is free and set up in minutes

#Questions before you start

Do I need to know Vue, Nuxt or JavaScript?

No. Clay is built with them, but you only write Markdown and a few lines of YAML. There is no theme to set up and no code to write.

Can I use the Markdown files I already have?

Yes. Clay reads the Markdown you know from GitHub, and links between .md files work like they do there. Copy your files into docs/, start clay dev, and fix what the build checks report.

Does my project have to be a JavaScript project?

No. Clay runs with npx in any repository, written in Go, Python, Java or anything else, see without installing.

What does it cost?

Nothing. Clay is open source under the Apache 2.0 license, and the sites it builds run on any free static host.

Tip

Already have a Clay site? See upgrading to Clay 4.