Getting Started

Get Arc running and query real data in a few minutes.

1. Start Arc

docker run -d \
  --name arc \
  -p 8000:8000 \
  -v arc-data:/app/data \
  ghcr.io/basekick-labs/arc:latest

Confirm that Arc is ready:

curl http://localhost:8000/health

See Installation for storage, networking, other architectures, and production configuration.

2. Get the admin token

Arc prints an admin token the first time it starts.

docker logs arc 2>&1 | grep -i "admin"

Copy the value that begins with arc_:

export ARC_TOKEN="arc_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

3. Connect with arcli

Install arcli, save the Arc endpoint, and verify the connection:

brew install basekick-labs/tap/arcli
arcli config create --name local --endpoint http://localhost:8000 --token "$ARC_TOKEN"
arcli ping

See Install arcli for Docker, Linux packages, and downloadable archives.

4. Load and query real data

Load a month of NYC Citi Bike trips:

arcli sample load citibike

arcli verifies and imports about one million rows, then prints useful queries. Try the busiest-stations query:

arcli query --database nyc "SELECT start_station_name AS station, count(*) AS trips FROM citibike_trips GROUP BY 1 ORDER BY trips DESC LIMIT 5"

Write your own data

arcli db create metrics
echo "cpu,host=server01 usage=95.0" | arcli write --database metrics
arcli query --database metrics "SELECT * FROM cpu"

Arc buffers new writes briefly. If the first query is empty, run it again after a few seconds.

Next steps

• Writing data
• Querying Arc
• Importing data
• Configuring Arc
• Using arcli
• Connecting Grafana

Need help? Visit GitHub Issues or join the Basekick Labs Discord.