Project setup

Complete Install and Getting started. This page covers an existing repository: an app that already has Compose files, one that needs custom domains, or one you want an agent to configure.

InitializeCopy Anchor Link

cd your-project
hack init

hack init detects an existing docker-compose.yml, asks about services and domains, and writes .hack/: the Compose file Hack manages, hack.config.json, the default env YAML and a .gitignore for machine-local state. Review the files and commit them. To hand setup to an agent instead, run hack init --with claude or hack init --with codex.

For an existing project, hack agent onboard prints an onboarding prompt that describes the services, env and routing a Hack setup should cover. See Explicit agent setup.

Check the resultCopy Anchor Link

hack up --detach
hack open
hack doctor

hack doctor reports missing prerequisites, routing problems and configuration drift. Review each repair before hack doctor --fix.

Native backendCopy Anchor Link

Native execution needs more than hack init: a prepared provider pool, an explicitly adapted project and a private native home. Read Try the native backend first. hack config validate, config plan and config import --dry-run preview native configuration without starting anything; see Native config import. Installing v5 does not convert a Compose project or move its data.

Source: v5 (next.12) · docs/site/guides/init-project.md.