Getting started

Prerequisites

• Docker Engine or Docker Desktop
• Docker Compose v2 (docker compose)
• Git for cloning and contributing
• Enough disk space for Forgejo data and Space images

Node.js and Python are not required on the host for the normal Compose path.

Start a fresh environment

git clone https://github.com/Sunwood-ai-labs/OpenFace.git
cd OpenFace
cp .env.example .env
docker compose up -d --build

On Windows PowerShell, replace the copy command with:

Copy-Item .env.example .env

Change OPENFACE_ADMIN_PASSWORD in .env before sharing the deployment. Open https://localhost:8443; the first local run uses a generated self-signed certificate, so the browser will show a development certificate warning.

Confirm the stack

docker compose ps
docker compose logs seed

The seed service should finish successfully. Long-running services should report healthy or running states.

Stop or rebuild

docker compose down
docker compose up -d --build

docker compose down keeps named volumes. Add --volumes only when you intentionally want to delete Forgejo repositories, users, tokens, and agent metrics.

Next steps

• Understand the architecture.
• Publish a Docker Space.
• Publish a static site with OpenFace Pages.
• Review operations and security.