Installation

This guide covers how to install Great Docs and its prerequisites.

Prerequisites

Before installing Great Docs, ensure you have:

Python 3.11 or later
Quarto – The publishing system that renders your documentation

Installing Quarto

Great Docs uses Quarto to render documentation. Install it from quarto.org:

Terminal

# Using Homebrew
brew install quarto

# Or download the installer from quarto.org

Terminal

# Download and install the .deb package (Ubuntu/Debian)
# Get the latest release URL from https://quarto.org/docs/get-started/
wget <quarto-release-url>.deb
sudo dpkg -i <quarto-release-filename>.deb

# Or use your package manager

Download and run the installer from quarto.org.

Verify the installation:

Terminal

quarto --version

Installing Great Docs

From PyPI

The simplest way to install Great Docs:

Terminal

pip install great-docs

From GitHub

Install the latest development version directly from GitHub:

Terminal

pip install git+https://github.com/posit-dev/great-docs.git

Or install a specific version:

Terminal

# Install from a specific branch
pip install git+https://github.com/posit-dev/great-docs.git@main

# Install from a specific tag
pip install git+https://github.com/posit-dev/great-docs.git@v0.1.0

Development Installation

For contributing to Great Docs or testing the latest features:

Terminal

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/posit-dev/great-docs.git
cd great-docs

# Install in editable mode
pip install -e .

# Or with development dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Verify Installation

After installation, verify everything is working:

Terminal

# Check Great Docs version
great-docs --help

# Check Quarto version
quarto --version

You should see the Great Docs help message and the Quarto version number.

Next Steps

Now that Great Docs is installed, let’s create your first documentation site in the Quick Start guide.