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

# Quickstart

Get started with BOW in minutes. Install, configure, and start chatting with your data.

## Install with Docker

You can install BOW with a single docker command. By default, it will use SQLite as the database.
You can also configure it to use PostgreSQL by passing `BOW_DATABASE_URL` environment variable.

```bash theme={null}
docker run --pull always -d -p 3000:3000 bagofwords/bagofwords
```

> [!NOTE]
>
> To use PostgreSQL, you need to set the `BOW_DATABASE_URL` environment variable.
> For example: `BOW_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/bagofwords`

## Onboarding

After installation, complete the onboarding flow to set up your AI analyst.

### 1. Welcome

Start by clicking **Next** to begin the setup process.

![Welcome to BOW](https://mintcdn.com/bagofwords/EbTwBzDiBUd0Y1I4/assets/media/onboarding/welcome.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=EbTwBzDiBUd0Y1I4\&q=85\&s=05b82b4256641e76e2669f7a14222230)

### 2. Configure LLM

Connect to any LLM provider and bring your own API key. Choose from OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure OpenAI, or Google.

![Configure LLM](https://mintcdn.com/bagofwords/LAdg09T4Ov37V_62/assets/media/onboarding/llm.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=LAdg09T4Ov37V_62\&q=85\&s=5a5057bf950417c7c468a4e81631114a)

### 3. Connect Data Source

Select one of the available data sources: PostgreSQL, Snowflake, BigQuery, MySQL, AWS Athena, Salesforce, and more.

![Connect data source](https://mintcdn.com/bagofwords/LAdg09T4Ov37V_62/assets/media/onboarding/data-source.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=LAdg09T4Ov37V_62\&q=85\&s=e532cb687c660c54d1d123df292e6c0a)

Enter your connection details (host, port, database, credentials) and test the connection.

### 4. Select Tables

Choose which tables the AI can access and query during conversations. You can select all or specific tables based on your needs.

![Select tables](https://mintcdn.com/bagofwords/EbTwBzDiBUd0Y1I4/assets/media/onboarding/tables.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=EbTwBzDiBUd0Y1I4\&q=85\&s=e32f37ed3118bedd4e5e2192b2ded486)

### 5. Add Context

Add custom instructions and enrich context to help the AI make better decisions. You can:

* **Suggest Instructions**: Add business-specific context, glossary, and code guidelines
* **Enrich Context**: Connect Git repos to load dbt/markdown resources, then toggle items to include them in AI context

![Add context](https://mintcdn.com/bagofwords/LAdg09T4Ov37V_62/assets/media/onboarding/context.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=LAdg09T4Ov37V_62\&q=85\&s=469556f34fb58ba3e721cd7a03efb611)

### 6. Start Asking Questions

Setup complete! You can now start asking questions in natural language. Create reports, dashboards, and get the data you need.

![AI Analyst ready](https://mintcdn.com/bagofwords/LAdg09T4Ov37V_62/assets/media/onboarding/ready.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=LAdg09T4Ov37V_62\&q=85\&s=7103cc37d843561e28362e5a5233da27)

Use the conversation starters or type your own questions to begin analyzing your data.

## Next Steps

**Learn how to use BOW:**

> [card] [Chat with Data](https://docs.bow.ai/using-bow/reports.md)
>
> Learn how to ask questions and iterate on results

> [card] [Create Dashboards](https://docs.bow.ai/using-bow/dashboards.md)
>
> Build visual stories with charts and tables

> [card] [Add Instructions](https://docs.bow.ai/using-bow/instructions.md)
>
> Guide your AI with custom business rules

**Understand how it works:**

> [card] [How agents work](https://docs.bow.ai/)
>
> Learn about the governed reasoning loop and Knowledge Harness

> [card] [Manage agents](https://docs.bow.ai/agents/overview.md)
>
> Configure the data, tools, files, instructions, and evals for every run


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.