Getting Started

This guide walks you through deploying Financer and creating your first household.

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed on your system

Quick Start with Docker Compose

1. Create a project directory and add a docker-compose.yml file:

   mkdir financer && cd financer

2. Create the docker-compose.yml file:

   services:
     app:
       image: ghcr.io/financer-project/financer:latest
       container_name: financer-server
       environment:
         DATABASE_URL: mysql://financer:financer@financer-db:3306/financer
         REDIS_URL: redis://financer-redis:6379
         SESSION_SECRET_KEY: change-me-to-a-random-secret
         APP_ORIGIN: http://localhost:3000
         LOG_LEVEL: WARNING
         DEMO_DATA: "false"
       volumes:
         - ./data:/app/data
       ports:
         - "3000:3000"
       depends_on:
         mysql:
           condition: service_healthy
           restart: true
         redis:
           condition: service_started
   
     mysql:
       image: mysql:9
       container_name: financer-db
       environment:
         MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: password
         MYSQL_DATABASE: financer
         MYSQL_USER: financer
         MYSQL_PASSWORD: financer
       healthcheck:
         test: ["CMD", "/usr/bin/mysql", "--user=root", "--password=password", "--execute", "SHOW DATABASES;"]
         interval: 10s
         timeout: 2s
         retries: 10
       volumes:
         - database:/var/lib/mysql
   
     redis:
       image: redis:alpine
       container_name: financer-redis
       volumes:
         - redis-data:/data
       command: redis-server --appendonly yes
   
   volumes:
     redis-data:
     database:

3. Start the services:

   docker compose up -d

4. Open Financer at http://localhost:3000.

5. Complete the onboarding wizard to set up your admin account and first household.

TIP

On first startup, the database migrations run automatically. This may take a moment before the application becomes available.

Onboarding

When you access Financer for the first time, an onboarding wizard guides you through the initial setup:

1. Create your admin account - Enter your name, email, and password
2. Configure system settings - Set defaults for language and theme
3. Create your first household - Give it a name, description, and select a currency

After onboarding, you're taken to the dashboard where you can start adding accounts and transactions.

First Steps After Setup

Once onboarding is complete, the recommended steps are:

1. Create accounts - Add your bank accounts, savings accounts, and other financial accounts under your household
2. Set up categories - Create income and expense categories to organize your transactions (e.g., Salary, Groceries, Rent)
3. Add transactions - Start recording your income and expenses manually, or import them from a CSV export from your bank
4. Invite household members - If you share finances with family, invite them to your household with appropriate roles

Demo Data

If you want to explore Financer with sample data before entering your own, set the DEMO_DATA environment variable to true:

environment:
  DEMO_DATA: "true"

This seeds the database with example households, accounts, categories, and transactions so you can explore all features immediately. Set it back to false once you're ready to use Financer with real data.

Next Steps

• Learn about all Features in detail
• Read the Deployment guide for production configuration
• Review Configuration options