---
title: Project Setup Overview
sidebarTitle: Setup Overview
description: >-
  Create a project, connect GitHub, organize your repo, and decide who can read
  your docs. Start here if your site isn't live yet.
---

> **For AI agents:** the complete documentation index is at [llms.txt](/docs/llms.txt). Append `.md` to any page URL for its markdown version.

Every Jamdesk site starts the same way: a project in the dashboard, a GitHub repo behind it, and a `docs.json` file that describes your navigation. This section covers that initial setup, plus the structural decisions worth making early. URL layout, languages, and access control are all much easier to settle before you have fifty pages than after.

Migrating from another platform? Skip ahead to the [Migration Guide](/setup/migration). Jamdesk can automate most of the conversion.

## From Repo to Live Site

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a project">
    Start from a template or connect an existing GitHub repo. Your site goes live at `yourproject.jamdesk.app`.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Connect GitHub">
    Install the GitHub App so every push deploys automatically.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Organize the repo">
    A `docs.json` file plus MDX pages. That's the whole contract.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Core Setup

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="Create a Project" icon="rocket" href="/setup/creating-projects">
    From a template or an existing repo to a live site
  </Card>
  <Card title="Connect GitHub" icon="github" href="/setup/connecting-github">
    App installation, repository access, and automatic deploys on push
  </Card>
  <Card title="Directory Structure" icon="folder-tree" href="/setup/directory-structure">
    Required files, page directories, images, and snippets
  </Card>
  <Card title="Migration Guide" icon="truck-moving" href="/setup/migration">
    Move from another documentation platform, automated or manual
  </Card>
  <Card title="Monorepo Support" icon="boxes-stacked" href="/setup/monorepo-support">
    Keep docs alongside your code when they aren't at the repo root
  </Card>
  <Card title="Multi-Language Support" icon="language" href="/setup/languages">
    Serve docs in multiple languages with a language switcher
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Site Structure

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Navigation" icon="sitemap" href="/navigation/overview">
    Tabs, groups, and pages that organize your documentation
  </Card>
  <Card title="Redirects" icon="arrows-turn-right" href="/setup/redirects">
    Exact and pattern-based redirects for moved or renamed pages
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Privacy & Access

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="Access Control" icon="shield-halved" href="/setup/access-control">
    Fully public, password-gated, mixed, or SSO. Compare the options.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Password Protection" icon="lock" href="/setup/password-protection">
    Lock the whole site or just a handful of pages behind a shared password
  </Card>
  <Card title="Single Sign-On (SSO)" icon="key" href="/setup/sso">
    SAML or OIDC through your identity provider
  </Card>
</Columns>