Install and try
Takt is Docker Compose: a prebuilt app image, Postgres and file storage. With internet the images come from Docker Hub. Airgapped: save them on a connected machine, load them here, then start without a pull. This page takes you through the install, the first account and what to try once you are in.
Demo — not for production. This install is for trying Takt on a laptop or in a bounded pilot. Do not run it as a production system yet.
A laptop is enough for a trial. The same stack scales to your own servers behind a reverse proxy.
Docker Desktop 4.30+ (Mac, Windows) or Docker Engine 27+
(Linux). docker compose version
should print v2.x. The old
docker-compose with a hyphen does
not work.
Postgres, file storage and the app. amd64
and arm64; Apple Silicon works.
Online: images from Docker Hub the first time. Airgapped:
docker load, then
docker compose --env-file .env up -d --pull never.
Change the port in .env if 3005
is taken.
No other installer. AI is optional: e-mail takt@fennister.com for a demo key. Everything else works without it.
Quick check that Docker is running:
docker --version
docker compose versionSix steps. The first three are in the terminal, the rest in the browser. Nothing is saved until you finish the setup wizard.
Get takt-deploy-<version>.zip
from the
latest release.
It holds Compose files, scripts and a ready
.env — no source code. Unzip and
step into the folder:
unzip takt-deploy-*.zip
cd takt-deploy
ls -a
# .env .env.example README.md backup-loop.sh pg-migrate-data-dir.sh cli/ compose.yaml down.sh
.env is hidden in Finder and
Explorer; ls -a shows it. Which
app version you get is set by
TAKT_VERSION in that file. Leave
it as it is.
.env (optional)
Open .env in an editor before the
first start. Everything can stay as it is; these are the
rows people change:
| Row | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
AUTH_SECRET= |
output of openssl rand -base64 32 |
Required. Unique per install. Never change it later or everyone is signed out. |
AI_ENABLED=1 |
1 |
Turns the Takt agent on for the whole install. Without it AI is hidden everywhere, even if an organisation switches it on. |
AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY= |
demo key from Takt |
Required together with AI_ENABLED.
E-mail
takt@fennister.com
for a demo key, then paste it right after
=, no quotes. Do not share it.
|
TAKT_PORT and
AUTH_URL
|
e.g. 3006 and http://localhost:3006 |
Only if 3005 is taken. Both must point at the same port, or sign-in will not work. |
Set AUTH_SECRET before Compose.
Empty secret: Compose will not start. Want to run without
AI? Leave the two AI rows empty — everything except the
agent works. Demo keys only; this is not a production
gateway.
Same stack. TAKT_VERSION in
.env is the Hub tag
without v.
Images: mrweiland/takt:<version>,
postgres:19beta3-alpine,
chrislusf/seaweedfs:4.46.
docker compose --env-file .env up -d
Pulls the three images from Docker Hub if they are missing,
starts the stack and migrates. The first download takes a
minute or so. AUTH_SECRET must
already be set.
On a machine with internet, same version as
in the zip’s .env:
docker pull mrweiland/takt:<version>
docker pull postgres:19beta3-alpine
docker pull chrislusf/seaweedfs:4.46
docker save mrweiland/takt:<version> postgres:19beta3-alpine chrislusf/seaweedfs:4.46 \
| gzip > takt-images.tar.gz
Move the zip and takt-images.tar.gz
to the airgapped host. There:
gunzip -c takt-images.tar.gz | docker load
unzip takt-deploy-*.zip
cd takt-deploy
docker compose --env-file .env up -d --pull never
--pull never does not talk to Hub.
The zip’s ./cli/install.sh uses
the bundled binary (no GitHub download).
You are done when all four rows show
healthy or
Up:
takt-install-app-1 Up (healthy) 0.0.0.0:3005->3005/tcp
takt-install-backup-1 Up
takt-install-postgres-1 Up (healthy)
takt-install-s3-1 Up (healthy)
Then open
http://localhost:3005/register.
Online: run
docker compose --env-file .env up -d
again to start (and pull the image for your
TAKT_VERSION if it is missing).
Airgapped: docker load the new
tar, then
docker compose --env-file .env up -d --pull never.
The database lives in a Docker volume between restarts.
On /register: name (1–80
characters), email (used to sign in) and a password of at
least 8 characters. Click Create account.
You are signed in straight away and land in the setup
wizard. The first account becomes administrator of the
organisation you create next.
The interface follows your browser language. Force English
with /en first in the address,
for example http://localhost:3005/en/register;
Swedish with /sv.
Four short screens on /app/new.
Nothing is saved until you click
Create workspace at the end, so you can go
back and forth.
localhost:3005/app/<address>.
Filled in from the name. Lowercase letters, digits and
hyphens, 2–40 characters.
AI_ENABLED
and a demo key from
takt@fennister.com
in .env.
Shows how people sign in to this installation: email and password, plus Continue with Microsoft when Entra ID is configured (see below). Nothing to choose.
/app/<address>/teams/platform.
/register.
Read through and click Create workspace →.
You land on the team board:
http://localhost:3005/app/<address>/teams/<team>.
On the team board or backlog: New → pick a type (epic, feature, story, task, bug, requirement) → give it a title, the only required field → save. It shows up in the first column. From here, follow the tour below.
Invite colleagues: organisation menu → Settings → Members. Roles are Organisation admin (everything, including settings, members and backups), Member (create and edit work in their teams) and Reader (read only). The role activates when the person signs in with the same email address.
A guided tour, one feature at a time. Each card is a few minutes.
Paths are relative to /app/<address>.
Move a card between columns. Open the backlog and switch the Epics / Features / Stories tabs — the same work at three altitudes. Expand a feature to see its stories.
/teams/<team> · /teams/<team>/backlogOpen the side panel on the backlog and drag a row onto a sprint, an initiative or a goal. The link is saved on the work item — that is what the map draws later.
/teams/<team>/backlogCreate a sprint, plan a story into it and open the sprint board. Drag tasks between stand-up lanes, filter by person, switch to the table view.
/teams/<team>/sprintAdd a goal and an initiative that supports it. Rate an idea on value, effort and risk. Then open the Map and see the picture drawn from the links you just made.
/goals · /initiatives · /ideas · /map
Create a delivery — a project or a service — with its own key,
board and backlog. Tick the teams that work in it. Work keys
read like PAW-12.
Add organisation labels in settings, team labels on the team. Put one on a work item and filter the board by it.
/settings?tab=labelsWith a demo key from takt@fennister.com: press ⌘ J (or Ctrl J) to open the agent rail. Pick a skill such as Improve description, or ask it to break a feature into stories. Every change is a proposal you approve.
/settings?tab=ai for limits and usageStatus shows live checks for database, files, AI and backups. Backup lists the Postgres dumps Compose takes every 30 minutes (last 48 kept). Restore replaces the whole install — treat it with care in a trial.
/status · /backupBoth are additions to a running install. Skip them for a first look.
One command after az login registers
a single-tenant app and writes the three variables Takt needs.
Needs the Azure CLI. Roles stay in Takt; no SAML, no directory
read.
az login
./entra-oidc.sh --auth-url "$AUTH_URL" --write .env
docker compose --env-file .env up -d
Then Continue with Microsoft appears on
/login. Sign-in is instance-wide,
not per organisation. Users with email and password can also
turn on an authenticator app under Account.
takt is a terminal command that talks
to your install over the API, and an MCP server for Cursor,
Claude Desktop and other clients. macOS and Linux. The zip
already holds the binary; ./cli/install.sh
copies it locally (works airgapped).
./cli/install.sh
takt login --url http://localhost:3005
takt # interactive session
takt --help
MCP config: { "command": "takt", "args": ["mcp"] }.
No token in the file — it comes from
takt login.
Run from the takt-deploy folder.
docker compose --env-file .env up -d # online: start / pull if missing
docker compose --env-file .env up -d --pull never # airgapped: local images
docker compose --env-file .env down # stop Takt, keep the data
docker compose --env-file .env ps # status
docker compose --env-file .env logs -f app # app log
Update: unzip the new zip over the same folder (keep
.env), bump
TAKT_VERSION, then
up -d again. Airgapped: new
takt-images.tar.gz on a connected
machine, docker load, then
up -d --pull never.
Start over from zero — deletes all data in this install and asks you to confirm:
./down.sh --purge
docker compose --env-file .env up -d # airgapped: add --pull never| Container | Image | Role |
|---|---|---|
takt-install-app-1 |
mrweiland/takt:<version> |
The app, on TAKT_PORT |
takt-install-postgres-1 |
postgres:19beta3-alpine |
Database, reachable only inside Docker |
takt-install-s3-1 |
chrislusf/seaweedfs:4.46 |
File storage for images and attachments |
takt-install-backup-1 |
postgres:19beta3-alpine |
Dump every 30 minutes into the backups volume |
Only TAKT_PORT is exposed on your
machine. All data lives in Docker volumes named
takt-install-* and survives restarts and
upgrades.
| Symptom | What to do |
|---|---|
docker compose version fails |
Docker is not running. Start Docker Desktop and try again. |
manifest for mrweiland/takt:<version> not found |
TAKT_VERSION in .env
does not exist on Docker Hub. Use it without
v (0.2.0, not
v0.2.0). Airgapped: the image
must already be local after docker load.
|
pull access denied / unauthorized / Hub unreachable |
Airgapped: docker load first,
then docker compose --env-file .env up -d --pull never.
Online: Docker Hub needs no login. Run
docker logout and retry; check proxy
and firewall.
|
| Sign-in loops, or “Untrusted host” |
AUTH_URL does not match the address
in the browser (port or host). Fix it and run
docker compose --env-file .env up -d again.
|
port is already allocated on 3005 |
Change TAKT_PORT and AUTH_URL together. |
| AI is on in the organisation but nothing shows |
AI_ENABLED=1 and
AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY are missing in
.env. Ask
takt@fennister.com
for a demo key, add both rows and run
docker compose --env-file .env up -d.
|
App stays in health: starting |
Normal for up to a minute the first time (migrations). Check
logs app if it takes longer.
|
Stuck? Write to
takt@fennister.com and
attach the output of
docker compose --env-file .env logs app --tail 100.