Getting Started

This guide walks you through creating your first Goop2 peer and visiting it in the browser.

1. Download and install

Download the latest Goop2 binary for your platform from the project releases, or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/pgibler/goop2.git
cd goop2
go build -o goop2 ./cmd/goop2

2. Create a peer directory

A peer is just a folder with a goop.json config and a site/ directory:

mkdir -p peers/mysite/site

3. Write a configuration file

Create peers/mysite/goop.json:

{
  "identity": {
    "key_file": "data/identity.key"
  },
  "paths": {
    "site_root": "site"
  },
  "profile": {
    "label": "My First Site",
    "email": "you@example.com"
  },
  "viewer": {
    "http_addr": "127.0.0.1:8080"
  }
}

This gives your peer a display name, tells it where to find your site files, and starts the local viewer on port 8080.

4. Add some content

Create a simple index.html inside the site directory:

cat > peers/mysite/site/index.html << 'EOF'
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head><title>Hello Goop2</title></head>
<body>
  <h1>Welcome to my ephemeral site!</h1>
  <p>This page is served directly from my machine.</p>
</body>
</html>
EOF

5. Start the peer

./goop2 peer ./peers/mysite

On first run, Goop2 will:

Create data/identity.key (your persistent cryptographic identity).
Create data.db (your local SQLite database).
Start announcing presence via mDNS on your local network.
Open the viewer at http://127.0.0.1:8080.

6. Visit your site

Open a browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:8080. The viewer shows your site content and lists any other peers discovered on your network.

What's next?

Connect to other peers -- See Connecting to Peers for mDNS and rendezvous setup.
Customize your config -- See Configuration for the full reference.
Use a template -- See Templates to start with a pre-built blog, quiz, or game.