---
title: Introduction
description: Privacy-centric, self-hostable team chat. A Slack alternative you run yourself.
---

# Dagr

Dagr is team chat you run yourself. One Docker Compose command starts the API, the browser UI, Postgres, Redis, and MinIO. There is no required third-party SaaS. The desktop app and the web UI talk to your server.

## Why Dagr?

- **Self-host first:** Postgres, Redis, and files stay on infrastructure you control
- **No required SaaS:** email and object storage are optional to configure
- **Versioned API:** everything lives under `/api/v1/*`
- **Desktop and web:** sign into your server from the app or a browser, or several servers at once
- **Compare:** why teams leave [Slack and other team chat](/compare) for Dagr

## Status

The project is early. You can sign up, create a workspace, use channels and messages, and invite people. Treat it as something to try, not as production-ready chat yet.

## Try it

1. Follow [Quick start](/quickstart) to run the stack and open the web UI, or download the macOS or Windows app from the Dagr website (`website/` in this repository).
2. [Hosting](/hosting) covers Compose, the [web app](/hosting/web-app), Coolify, and Northflank.
3. [Desktop app](/desktop) covers sign in, workspaces, chat, and notifications.

If you want to change the code, see [Contributing](/contributing) and [Architecture](/architecture).