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title: Setup
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# Getting started

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On disk your Urbit is an append-only log and a checkpoint.  Or, in simpler terms, a directory where we keep all of your Urbit’s state.  We call this a ‘pier’.

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## Initialize

When you first start an Urbit we create this pier directory and write to it.

To start with a planet (`~fintud-macrep`) and ticket (`~fortyv-tombyt-tabsen-sonres`):

    bin/urbit -w fintud-macrep -t fortyv-tombyt-tabsen-sonres

This will create a directory `fintud-macrep/` and begin the initialization process for that planet.  Be patient, it can take a few minutes.  

Without a planet anyone can create a comet:

    bin/urbit -c comet

This will create a directory `comet/` and start up a random 64-bit comet.  You can specify any name you like.

## Orientation

When your Urbit is finished booting you should see a `dojo>` prompt.  Welcome!  

By default your Urbit is quite bare bones.  Let's take a very short stroll through what's running by default:

### Shell — `:dojo`

The command prompt in front of you is a simple shell and Hoon REPL.  Let's make sure it works:

    ~fitund-macrep:dojo> (add 2 2)

Should produce:

    > (add 2 2)
    4

Good.

### Messaging — `:talk`

Use `^X` to change your prompt.  Let's join the main Urbit chat channel:

    ~fitund-macrep:talk() ;join ~doznec/urbit-meta

This may take a bit as `:talk` is stateful so your Urbit will download some backlog.  `/urbit-meta` is the place to ask questions, get help and talk about anything Urbit related.

### Web — `:tree`

Urbit is also accessible through the web.  Try opening:

    http://localhost:8080/

in your favorite browser.  You'll be prompted to use `+code`.  This page was generated by `:tree`, the basic Urbit web interface.  You can also access your Urbit through `http://fintud-macrep.urbit.org` (where `fintud-macrep` is your planet name).  

### Filesystem — `%clay`

`%clay`, the Urbit filesystem, isn't mounted to unix by default.  Switch to the `:dojo` prompt and run:

    ~fitund-macrep:dojo> |mount %

This should produce:

    > |mount %
    >=

which indicates the command was processed.

`|mount %` will cause a `home/` directory to appear inside your pier folder.  Changes to these files are automatically synced into your Urbit.

## Learn more

We go into much greater detail about using each of these components in our walkthroughs:

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With your Urbit up and running you know enough to start learning to program:

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