> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.doc-reviewer.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Install Doc Reviewer on Windows and confirm it runs

> Download the Doc Reviewer executable and run it, or build from source. Covers system requirements, Chromium setup, and verifying the backend is running.

Doc Reviewer runs on Windows as a standalone desktop application. The recommended path is to download the pre-built `.exe` — no Python, no Node.js, no additional setup required. If you want to modify the source or run in development mode, follow the from-source path instead.

## System requirements

| Requirement                        | Details                          |
| ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------- |
| Operating system                   | Windows 10 or Windows 11         |
| Chromium (for web page evaluation) | Installed separately — see below |
| Python 3.11 (from-source only)     | 3.12+ not supported              |
| Node.js 18+ (from-source only)     | Required to build the frontend   |

<Warning>
  Python 3.12 and later are not supported. The PDF parser depends on PyMuPDF 1.23, which is incompatible with Python 3.12+. Use Python 3.11 exactly.
</Warning>

## Option 1: Using the .exe (recommended)

This is a fast way to get started. The `.exe` bundles the Python backend and the React frontend into a single file.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Download doc-reviewer.exe">
    Download the latest `doc-reviewer.exe` from the [releases page](https://github.com/amihailov76/doc-reviewer/releases) and save it to a dedicated folder — for example, `C:\Tools\DocReviewer\`.

    <Tip>
      Keep the `.exe` in its own folder. Doc Reviewer creates a `data\` subfolder next to the executable to store the database and any local configuration files. If you place the `.exe` on your Desktop, the data folder will appear there too.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run the executable">
    Double-click `doc-reviewer.exe`. The app starts a local backend server and opens the Doc Reviewer UI in your default browser automatically.

    If your browser does not open, navigate to `http://localhost:8000` manually.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install Chromium for web page evaluation">
    The `.exe` does not bundle Chromium. To load and evaluate web pages by URL, you need to install Chromium once using Playwright.

    Open a terminal and run:

    ```bash theme={null}
    py -3.11 -m playwright install chromium
    ```

    This downloads Chromium (\~150 MB) to `%LOCALAPPDATA%\ms-playwright`. You only need to do this once per machine.

    <Note>
      If you only plan to evaluate uploaded files (PDF, DOCX, Markdown, TXT) and not web pages, you can skip this step.
    </Note>
  </Step>
</Steps>

Your data is stored in `data\db.sqlite` next to the `.exe`. The database is created automatically on first launch. To reset all data, stop the app and delete the `data\` folder.

## Option 2: From source (developers)

Use this path if you want to modify Doc Reviewer or run it in development mode with hot reload.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Clone the repository">
    ```bash theme={null}
    git clone https://github.com/amihailov76/doc-reviewer.git
    cd doc-reviewer
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install Python dependencies">
    ```bash theme={null}
    py -3.11 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install Chromium">
    ```bash theme={null}
    py -3.11 -m playwright install chromium
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the backend">
    ```bash theme={null}
    python run_dev.py
    ```

    The backend starts on `http://localhost:8000` with hot reload enabled.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start the frontend">
    Open a second terminal window:

    ```bash theme={null}
    cd frontend
    npm install
    npm run dev
    ```

    The frontend dev server starts at `http://localhost:5173`. Open that URL in your browser.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  In development mode, the frontend runs on port 5173 (Vite) while the backend API runs on port 8000 (FastAPI). The pre-built `.exe` serves both from port 8000, so this two-port setup is development-only.
</Note>

## Verify the installation

Once the app is running, confirm the backend is healthy by visiting:

```
http://localhost:8000/api/ping
```

You should receive:

```json theme={null}
{"status": "ok"}
```

If you see an error or no response, the backend is not running. Try relaunching the `.exe` or restarting `run_dev.py`.

## What gets stored locally

Doc Reviewer keeps all data on your machine:

| Path                                         | Contents                                                          |
| -------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `data\db.sqlite` (next to the `.exe`)        | All projects, documents, evaluation results, model configurations |
| `criteria.md` (next to the `.exe`, optional) | Custom evaluation criteria that override the built-in defaults    |
| `%LOCALAPPDATA%\ms-playwright`               | Chromium installation (managed by Playwright)                     |

No data is sent externally except LLM API calls to the provider you configure in **Settings → Models**.