Getting Started

This guide runs Bark locally with Docker. Background: What is Bark?.

Installation ​

Other install methods (Windows/IIS, Linux release zip, source build): Deploy.

Create a docker-compose.yml:

services:
  bark:
    image: ghcr.io/hawkinslabdev/bark:latest
    container_name: bark
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    volumes:
      - ./docs:/app/docs:ro,Z

The ./docs volume holds the content: Markdown files and an optional config.json.

docker compose up -d

The site is served at http://localhost:8080.

File structure ​

docs/
├── config.json                      ← Configuration file (optional)
├── index.md                         ← Homepage
├── guide/
│   ├── getting-started.md           ← Served at /guide/getting-started
│   ├── configuration.md
│   ├── routing.md
│   └── deploy.md
└── reference/
    ├── site-config.md
    ├── api-reference.md
    └── sitemap-generation.md

The folder layout determines navigation and URLs.

What's next ​

• Configuration: config.json options, themes, and branding.
• Routing: the exact rules for turning a file path into a URL.
• Using Markdown: every Markdown extension Bark supports, with live examples.
• Frontmatter: every field a page can set.
• Deploy: Docker, IIS, Linux, or source, plus the production defaults Bark comes with.