Your First Login

You've installed the prerequisites. Now you'll start Folio and log in for the first time.

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Step 1: Start the database

Open a terminal in the Folio folder and run:

yarn docker:up

This starts a local PostgreSQL database inside Docker. You'll see output as the containers start up. Wait until it settles (about 10–20 seconds).

You should see services for:

Service	Address
PostgreSQL database	localhost:5432
PgAdmin (database viewer)	http://localhost:5050
Mailhog (email inbox preview)	http://localhost:8025

TIP

You don't need to open PgAdmin or Mailhog — they're available if you ever want to peek at the database or test emails.

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Step 2: Create environment files

The app needs two small configuration files. These hold settings like database connection details.

Open your terminal in the Folio folder and run these two commands:

# Windows (Command Prompt):
copy apps\api\.env.example .env
copy apps\web\.env.example apps\web\.env

# Mac / Linux:
cp apps/api/.env.example .env
cp apps/web/.env.example apps/web/.env

For a first local run, the default values in these files are fine. You don't need to edit them.

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Step 3: Start the backend (API)

Open a new terminal window in the Folio folder and run:

yarn dev:api

Leave this terminal running. You should see:

Server is running on port 3000
Database connected

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Step 4: Start the frontend (Web)

Open another new terminal window in the Folio folder and run:

yarn dev:web

Leave this terminal running too. You should see output ending with:

  ➜  Local:   http://localhost:4200/

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Step 5: Open Folio in your browser

Open your browser and go to: http://localhost:4200

You should see the Folio landing page.

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Step 6: Log in as admin

Click Sign In and use the pre-seeded admin account:

Field	Value
Email	admin@folio.local
Password	admin123

Change your password

After your first login, go to Admin → Users → your account and change the password to something secure. Anyone who starts Folio locally can try these default credentials.

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What you see after login

The top navigation shows:

• Home — landing page
• Books — browse all books
• Authors — browse all authors
• Admin — (visible to admins only) management panel

The Admin section is where you manage books, authors, users, loans, and settings.

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Stopping Folio

When you're done:

1. Press Ctrl + C in the API terminal to stop the backend.
2. Press Ctrl + C in the Web terminal to stop the frontend.
3. To stop the database:

   yarn docker:down

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Next: choose your usage profile

Now that Folio is running, decide how you want to use it:

Choose a Usage Profile →