# Self-hosting quickstart
URL: /guides/self-hosting/quickstart

Follow these steps to go from zero to a running Tambo instance on your machine using Docker Compose.

## Prerequisites

* Docker and Docker Compose installed
* OpenAI API key (or compatible provider)

## 1. Clone the repository

```bash
git clone https://github.com/tambo-ai/tambo.git
cd tambo
```

## 2. Set up environment

```bash
./scripts/cloud/tambo-setup.sh
```

This creates `docker.env` from `docker.env.example`.

## 3. Configure environment variables

Edit `docker.env` with your values. At minimum, set:

```bash
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your-secure-password-here
API_KEY_SECRET=your-32-character-api-key-secret
PROVIDER_KEY_SECRET=your-32-character-provider-secret
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=your-nextauth-secret
FALLBACK_OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-api-key
```

`docker.env.example` includes placeholder values. Replace them with strong secrets before starting the stack.

See [Environment Variables](/guides/self-hosting/environment-variables) for the full reference.

## 4. Start services

```bash
./scripts/cloud/tambo-start.sh
```

## 5. Initialize database

```bash
./scripts/cloud/init-database.sh
```

## 6. Access your deployment

* **Web Dashboard**: [http://localhost:8260](http://localhost:8260)
* **API**: [http://localhost:8261](http://localhost:8261)

## What's next

You now have a local Tambo deployment. To take it further:

* [Set up authentication](/guides/self-hosting/authentication) so users can sign in
* [Deploy to production with Docker Compose](/guides/self-hosting/docker-compose) or [Kubernetes](/guides/self-hosting/kubernetes)
* [Learn the operational scripts](/guides/self-hosting/scripts) for managing your deployment