Quick start (guided)

Install Docker Desktop

docker.com/products/docker-desktop. Start it and wait until it reports it's running.

On Windows, make sure the WSL 2 based engine is ticked in Settings → General — the alternative backend can't use a graphics card at all.

Install and open Chronicler

See Install the app.

Switch the app to your own server

Settings → Connection → Local, leave the address as http://localhost:8410, and apply. The app returns to the login screen and shows the setup panel, since there's no server there yet.

Let the app write the configuration

Choose Save the compose file. The app:

• downloads the current docker-compose.yml from the release into its own data folder (falling back to a built-in copy if GitHub is unreachable),
• creates a .env beside it with a randomly generated database password,
• checks the machine for a usable graphics card and records the right runtime (cpu, nvidia or amd) in that same file.

Start the stack

Open a terminal in the folder the app just showed you and run:

docker compose up -d

First start downloads several gigabytes of images and the language model, so it takes a while. Follow it with:

docker compose logs -f

chronicler-ollama-pull exiting is expected — it downloads the model and stops.

Register the first administrator

Back in Chronicler, the login screen now offers Register your admin account. Create it with your own email and a strong password.

That offer exists only while the server has no users at all. The first account claims the server, so do this before anyone else can reach it.

Accept the licence terms and activate

You'll be asked to accept the EULA, then to paste your licence key. Until a valid key is activated, the parts of the app that touch documents stay blocked. See Licensing and activation.