# Getting started

Farsight watches websites, APIs, ports, servers, DNS records, TLS certificates and scheduled jobs from the outside, tells you when something breaks (email, Discord, webhooks), keeps the history and publishes a status page. It is one program, `farsightd`, with the dashboard built in.

## Run it

On a Linux server with a public address and a DNS name pointing at it:

```
farsightd serve --https 0.0.0.0:443 --redirect 0.0.0.0:80 --domains farsight.example.com
```

Farsight gets its own Let's Encrypt certificate on port 443 (TLS-ALPN-01; nothing else needs to run) and renews it. Port 80 only redirects. Behind your own proxy, use `--listen 127.0.0.1:8790 --trust-proxy` instead.

Settings can also come from the environment (`FARSIGHT_HTTPS`, `FARSIGHT_DOMAINS`, ...). `farsightd --help` lists them all; `farsightd doctor` checks an install.

## First sign-in

On the first start Farsight prints a one-time **setup link** (also saved as `setup-link` in the data folder). Open it and:

1. Enter your email and a password (12 characters or more).
2. Scan the QR code with an authenticator app (Google Authenticator, 1Password, Authy, ...) and type the 6-digit code.
3. Save the 10 **recovery codes**. Each works once if you lose your phone.
4. Add a **passkey** (Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello, a security key). From then on, signing in is one tap.

Lost the link? Run `farsightd setup-link` on the server for a new one (72 hours).

## Add a monitor

Press **New monitor**, pick what to watch, paste the address and press **Test** to see a real check before saving. Defaults are sensible: a check every 60 seconds, two failures in a row before it counts as down, a quick re-check 10 seconds after a failure.

## Get alerts

First-run setup adds an email channel to your address. Add Discord or a webhook under **Alerts**, and press **Send test** on each.

## Next

- [Monitors](monitors.md): every kind and option.
- [Alerts](alerts.md): channels, grouping, reminders, muting.
- [Status page](status-page.md): what the public sees.
- [For AI agents and scripts](agents.md): API keys and examples.