title: Getting started
description: Start with the requirements and the quickstart, or go straight to the page that matches what you already know you need.
url: https://legalquants.github.io/lq-ai/start/
checked-against: 671eab0d (2026-10-25)
status: draft
kind: explanation
sources: docs/site/start/index.md, README.md

Start with the requirements and the quickstart. If you already know what you need, use [choose your path](/lq-ai/start/choose-your-path/) to route straight to the page you want instead of reading in order. None of these five pages is a prerequisite for another, except the quickstart's own install steps.

- **[Is LQ.AI right for your team?](/lq-ai/start/is-it-for-you/)** — checkable disqualifiers, before you invest more time. For an evaluator deciding whether to spend an afternoon on a deployment, or an operator fielding "why not buy something instead" from a colleague. After it, you can name the specific reason LQ.AI is or isn't a fit for your team today, rather than guessing from marketing copy.
- **[What gets installed and where data goes](/lq-ai/start/what-it-touches/)** — host requirements, ports, and where data actually lives, before you run a command. For a technical evaluator or operator who wants the port map and the data-boundary shape before the first `docker compose up`, not after something collides or a security review asks. After it, you know what has to already be true on the host and which single row of data ever leaves your environment.
- **[Set up LQ.AI and try your first document](/lq-ai/start/quickstart/)** — install, sign in and upload a test document without an AI-service key, in about 15 minutes once the stack is up. For an operator or evaluator ready to try it, with recovery steps placed at the point a first run commonly stalls. After it, you have a running deployment and a verified citation result you can read against the source document; connect a model when you're ready to ask questions.
- **[Choose your path](/lq-ai/start/choose-your-path/)** — route straight to the namespace that matches your goal. For anyone who already knows what they're trying to do and doesn't want to read the other four pages first. After it, you're on the page for your actual goal, with explicit permission to skip the rest.
- **[Where to find help](/lq-ai/start/where-help-lives/)** — day-to-day product help is in the running application, not on this site; the one exception. For anyone searching this site for a how-do-I-use-this-feature answer. After it, you know to check the in-app Learn tab first, and which incident procedures live here instead because they carry professional-conduct stakes.

Once you're past this namespace, [Operate](/lq-ai/operate/) covers installing on a specific topology and running a deployment day to day, and [Trust](/lq-ai/trust/) is where the evidence for a security or procurement review lives.

## Next

- [Is LQ.AI right for your team?](/lq-ai/start/is-it-for-you/)
- [Set up LQ.AI and try your first document](/lq-ai/start/quickstart/)