> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.flare-db.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Install the FlareDB CLI, start a local instance, and run a WordCount pipeline end to end.

This guide walks you through installing FlareDB, starting a local instance, and running a WordCount pipeline on FlareDB. By the end, you’ll have a running FlareDB instance with a WordCount pipeline successfully submitted and executed.

## 1. Install the FlareDB CLI

The flare CLI lets you initialize and manage FlareDB instances, and provides an interactive SQL shell for querying your data.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Linux and macOS">
    ```bash theme={null}
    curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/flare-db/flare-db/releases/download/flare-cli-v0.1.3/flare-cli-installer.sh | sh
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Windows">
    ```powershell theme={null}
    powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://github.com/flare-db/flare-db/releases/download/flare-cli-v0.1.3/flare-cli-installer.ps1 | iex"
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

You can also download the binary for your platform from the [GitHub releases page](https://github.com/flare-db/flare-db/releases).

## 2. Initialize FlareDB

```bash theme={null}
flare init
```

This creates the local `~/.flaredb` directory and downloads the components required to run FlareDB. This is a one time setup.

## 3. Start an instance

```bash theme={null}
flare up
```

FlareDB starts a local instance on port `8099` and is ready to accept pipeline jobs.

<Note>
  The local instance stores its data under `~/.flaredb`, including tables created through the SQL shell and data written by pipelines.
</Note>

## 4. Run a pipeline

Clone the repository and run the WordCount example:

```bash theme={null}
git clone https://github.com/flare-db/flare-db.git
cd flare-db

# Build the example.
./gradlew :wordcount:shadowJar

# Submit the pipeline to the running FlareDB instance.
./gradlew :wordcount:run
```

The `run` task starts `com.flaredb.example.WordCount` and submits the pipeline to your local FlareDB instance.

To learn how to build and run your own pipelines, see [Run a Beam pipeline](/usage).

## 5. Stop the instance

```bash theme={null}
flare down
```

<Warning>
  `flare down` stops the running FlareDB instance. Run `flare up` again when you want to start it.
</Warning>

## Next steps

* [Run a Beam pipeline](/usage) — add the FlareDB runner to your own project.
* [FlareDB I/O](/io) — read from and write to FlareDB tables.
* [SQL shell](/sql) — query your data with SQL.

## CLI reference

| Command           | Description                                                                                   |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `flare init`      | Create the local directories and download the FlareDB engine and worker components. Run once. |
| `flare up`        | Start a local FlareDB instance on port `8099`.                                                |
| `flare down`      | Stop the running instance.                                                                    |
| `flare sql`       | Launch the interactive SQL shell against the local warehouse.                                 |
| `flare --version` | Print the CLI version.                                                                        |
| `flare --help`    | List all available commands.                                                                  |