Quickstart

This guide helps you set up Unleash Enterprise in your own environment using Docker. Alternatively, you can sign up for a cloud-hosted trial instance.

If you are looking to set up the open-source version of Unleash, please refer to the instructions in the Unleash GitHub repository.

Set up Unleash with Docker

To start Unleash locally, clone the Unleash repository and start the server with Docker Compose:

git clone git@github.com:Unleash/unleash.git

cd unleash
docker compose -f docker-compose-enterprise.yml up

This pulls the unleashorg/unleash-enterprise Docker image and uses a Docker Compose file to configure the Unleash server and its database.

This step uses docker compose (V2 syntax). If you have the older docker-compose (V1), use that command syntax instead.

Log in to the Unleash Admin UI

In your browser, go to http://localhost:4242 and log in using the following credentials:

• username: admin
• password: unleash4all

Install your trial license

Request a license by signing up for a self-hosted trial here. Once you've signed up, you'll receive an email from Unleash containing your trial license key.

In the Admin UI, go to Admin > License, copy the license key you received by email and click Update license key.

The top banner now displays the number of days you have left on your free trial.

Create your first flag

To create your first flag:

1. Open the Default project.
2. Click New feature flag.
3. Enter a name, and click Create feature flag.

For more details on creating feature flags, see How to create a feature flag.

Connect an SDK

Next, use one of the client or server-side SDKs to connect Unleash with your application.

Connect a client-side SDK

1. Create a frontend API token.
2. Determine your Unleash URL, for example: http://localhost:4242/api/frontend.
3. Use the SDK to connect to Unleash in your application.

The following example shows how to use the JavaScript SDK to connect to your Unleash instance:

JavaScript SDK

import { UnleashClient } from "unleash-proxy-client";

const unleash = new UnleashClient({
    url: "https://<your-unleash-instance>/api/frontend",
    clientKey: "<your-token>",
    appName: "<your-app-name>",
});

unleash.on("synchronized", () => {
    // Unleash is ready to serve updated feature flags.

    // Check a feature flag
    if (unleash.isEnabled("some-flag")) {
        // do cool new things when the flag is enabled
    }
});

Connect a server-side SDK

1. Create a client API token.
2. Determine your Unleash URL, for example: http://localhost:4242/api.
3. Use the SDK to connect to Unleash in your application.

The following example shows how to use the Node.js SDK to connect to your Unleash instance:

Node.js SDK

const { initialize } = require("unleash-client");

const unleash = initialize({
    url: "https://<your-unleash-instance>/api",
    appName: "<your-app-name>",
    customHeaders: {
        Authorization: "<your-token>",
    },
});

unleash.on("synchronized", () => {
    // Unleash is ready to serve updated feature flags.

    if (unleash.isEnabled("some-flag")) {
        // do cool new things when the flag is enabled
    }
});

Next steps

Check out our reference documentation that explains the Unleash architecture, the different hosting options available, and other core concepts you need to get the most out of Unleash.

Explore feature flag best practices and language-specific tutorials in our developer guides.