---
title: "Get Started"
url: "https://control.actana.ai/docs/get-started"
description: "Three short quickstarts: a Core on this machine, the whole stack under Docker Compose, or just the client CLI."
updated: 2026-09-01T09:02:53+00:00
---

Three quickstarts, one per kind of machine. Each is short on purpose — the copy-paste path and nothing else. The [Install](/docs/install) section carries the detail behind every step.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
  subgraph one [One machine]
    A["Core Quickstart"] --> B["actana session start"]
  end
  subgraph stack [Whole stack]
    C["Docker Compose"] --> D["pair in the Panel"]
  end
  subgraph client [Client only]
    E["Client CLI"] --> F["pair to a remote Core"]
  end
```

## Pick your door

- [Core Quickstart](/docs/get-started/core-quickstart) — turn **this machine** into a Core and drive it from the same terminal. No Docker, no Panel, no pairing step.
- [Docker Compose](/docs/get-started/docker-compose) — the whole product on one host: a Panel and a Core on one Docker network, pulled from published images. The fastest way to see Fleet, a session, and a pairing code.
- [Client CLI](/docs/get-started/client-cli) — just the `actana` command, as a client of Cores running elsewhere. This is the only native path on **Windows**.

All three converge on the same product: Cores run the work, and any client — the Panel, the CLI, the [SDK](/docs/reference/sdk) — drives them after [pairing](/docs/pairing).

Deploying the Panel for real (TLS, backups, configuration) is [Panel Installation](/docs/install/panel-installation).