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Get started with GoRun

Choose hosted setup or build the source locally, then publish your first reviewed page.

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Create a hosted site

  1. Open Start your website, choose the site design and address, and enter the required account details. Use an email address you control.
  2. Confirm the activation message. Opening its link shows a confirmation page; submit the confirmation to activate. Confirmation does not sign you in automatically.
  3. Email confirmation queues the site request you already chose when capacity is available. Sign in with your password to track that existing request; do not submit a second request.
  4. Wait for the site to be ready, then use its own admin link. GoCloud account management and the site admin are separate destinations.

A managed-service trial is requested separately and requires owner approval. A requested trial is not an active trial or a payment. Its approved duration and expiry appear in the account.

Run an available source checkout locally

Use a source checkout or archive you have actually received. This guide does not assume a public repository or download endpoint. The current source requires Go 1.27 with toolchain 1.27.2; follow go.mod if your checkout differs.

In a fresh working copy, run these commands from the project root. Use a dedicated data directory; do not point a development server at production data.

make build
GORUN_ENV=dev \
GORUN_DATA=./data \
GORUN_THEMES=./themes \
GORUN_ADDR=127.0.0.1:8080 \
GORUN_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8080 \
./bin/gorun serve

Open http://127.0.0.1:8080/admin/setup and create the first administrator. The setup screen is for a fresh installation. The process must stay running while you use the local site. Stop it with Ctrl+C when finished.

Publish your first page

  1. Sign in to /admin on the site you created. Set the site title and language in General settings.
  2. Create a page as a draft. For a designed landing page choose the native builder; for an article or guide use the content editor.
  3. Preview the draft. Check its title, links, Arabic or English direction, and mobile layout.
  4. Publish with an authorized account, add the page to a menu and verify its public URL.

Before exposing a source installation

  • Use production mode, the real public HTTPS base URL and an explicit themes directory. The local development command above is not a production deployment command.
  • Set a persistent, private GORUN_SECRET_KEY containing 32 random bytes encoded as Base64. Keep the original value across restarts and restores; changing it can make encrypted data unreadable.
  • If using browser setup in production, configure a private setup token of at least 16 characters. Do not put secrets in a public command transcript.
  • Terminate HTTPS at a configured reverse proxy, restrict trusted proxy addresses to the actual ingress, and protect direct origin access.
  • Arrange recoverable database and media backups, restore testing, mail delivery and monitoring before relying on the site.

For a managed installation on your server, request a quote with your domain, infrastructure and support needs.