Installation

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

Prerequisites

Before installing Great Docs, ensure you have:

  • Python 3.9 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.

Dependencies

Great Docs automatically installs these dependencies:

Package Purpose
griffe Static analysis and API discovery
click Command-line interface
py-yaml12 YAML configuration handling

Next Steps

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