autodoc/GETTING_STARTED.md

Getting Started

StepForge is a fully offline desktop app. Nothing is uploaded or synced, and all guides stay on your machine.

1. Install

From the repository root:

npm install

That installs Electron and the local packaging tools used by the scripts.

2. Launch the app

npm start

The first launch creates the local StepForge data directory. On Linux it is usually under ~/.local/share/stepforge. On Windows it is usually under %APPDATA%/stepforge.

3. Create your first guide

In the library view:

1. Click New guide.
2. Give the guide a clear title.
3. Open the guide to enter the editor.

You can also import a guide archive with Import archive if you already have one.

4. Add content

There are two simple ways to start:

1. Import screenshots with the Import button in the editor.
2. Paste an image from the clipboard if you already copied one.

If you want to capture new screenshots, open Quick actions and start a capture session. Use Settings to set the capture hotkey and other capture options.

5. Edit the guide

The editor is split into three panes:

1. Steps on the left
2. Canvas in the center
3. Properties on the right

Use the canvas tools to add shapes, arrows, text, blur, highlight, numbers, and crops. Use the right pane to edit the step title, description, and annotation details.

6. Save and export

Use these actions from the top bar:

1. Save writes the guide to disk.
2. Export opens format choices such as JSON, Markdown, HTML, PDF, GIF, image bundle, DOCX, and PPTX.
3. Linked shows archive details when a guide is linked to a shared .sfgz file.

If you want to find commands quickly, press Ctrl+/ for Quick Actions.

Useful shortcuts

1. Ctrl+/ opens Quick Actions
2. Ctrl+S saves the current guide
3. Ctrl+Z undoes the last edit
4. Ctrl+Shift+Z redoes the last edit
5. Alt+Up and Alt+Down move the selected step

If something is missing

1. Open Settings to review capture, export, and editor options.
2. Run npm run sample to generate a sample guide and exported examples.
3. Run bash scripts/verify.sh to check the full offline workflow.

Optional builds

1. bash scripts/build-release.sh assembles the offline release layout.
2. npm run package:windows creates the portable Windows .exe in releases/.
3. bash scripts/package-linux.sh creates Linux release artifacts.