# Setup Guide

This guide gets a local Cortex dev instance running on Windows.

## Prerequisites

Install:

- Docker Desktop
- .NET 10 SDK
- PowerShell
- Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code, depending on how you want to work

Docker Desktop must be running before using any deployment script.

## First Run

From the repository root:

```powershell
.\scripts\deploy-all.ps1
```

This starts:

- PostgreSQL with pgvector
- Hugging Face Text Embeddings Inference
- Cortex MCP server

It also applies EF Core migrations before starting the app.

## Verify

Open:

```text
http://localhost:5117/health
```

Expected result:

```json
{
  "name": "Cortex",
  "status": "ok"
}
```

The timestamp will vary.

## Seed Sample Data

```powershell
.\scripts\seed-db.ps1
```

The seed creates a `Cortex` project and a couple of starter memories.

## MCP Endpoint

Use this endpoint from MCP clients:

```text
http://localhost:5117/mcp
```

## Optional Web UI

The Blazor web UI is not required for MCP clients or Visual Studio setup. It is useful for browsing and testing memories manually.

Start it with:

```powershell
.\scripts\deploy-web.ps1
```

Open:

```text
http://localhost:5118
```

The test MCP endpoint is:

```text
http://localhost:5217/mcp
```

The optional test web UI is:

```powershell
.\scripts\deploy-test-web.ps1
```

```text
http://localhost:5218
```

## Stop Services

```powershell
.\scripts\stop-all.ps1
```

This stops containers but keeps database and embedding model volumes.

## Reset Dev Database

```powershell
.\scripts\reset-db.ps1 -Force
```

This deletes only the dev PostgreSQL data volume. It does not delete the embedding model cache.

## Environment Defaults

The default local values are shown in `.env.example`. The Docker Compose files currently define their own values directly, so `.env.example` is documentation and a future customization starting point.