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First start and the first admin

The seed is example data and never runs in production. On a fresh database (no admin yet) the desk starts in setup mode: every page leads to /setup, which opens with a setup token, so only whoever runs the server can set it up.

Setup mode → Open /setup with the token → Setup wizard → First admin
Setup mode → First admin: create-admin, for recovery or a server without a browser

  1. Get the setup link, in one of two ways:

    • Choose the token yourself with SETUP_TOKEN (24 characters or more, for example openssl rand -hex 32) and open https://<your address>/setup?token=<SETUP_TOKEN>.

    • Without it, the desk prints a one-time link to its log:

      docker logs desk 2>&1 | grep "No admin yet"

  2. Go through the setup wizard and create the first admin at the end. After that the wizard is gone for good, and SETUP_TOKEN does nothing (you can remove it).

Recovery with create-admin​

create-admin is for recovery: when every admin is locked out, or on a server without a browser. It creates an admin and skips the wizard (set the rest under Settings → Installation):

docker exec desk node dist/create-admin.js [email protected] "Sam Taylor"

It prints a generated password once and refuses if the address is already in use.

With the default policy the admin sets up two-factor sign-in before reaching the admin pages, then builds the organization tree and invites everyone else.