> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.monk.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Start a new app

> Build a new app with your coding agent and run it with Monk from the first commit

Use this when you are starting from an empty or early repository. Your coding agent writes the app, and Monk plans and runs the infrastructure for it.

## Before you start

* Monk is installed and you are signed in. See [Install](/getting-started/get-started).
* A repository open in your coding agent, even if it only has a first commit.

## Ask Monk

Once there is something to run, ask for a plan:

```
/monk plan a deployment for this app
```

If the app needs a database or a cache, say so. Your coding agent adds the code that uses it, and Monk adds it to the plan:

```
/monk plan a deployment for this app with Postgres and Redis
```

Try it on your own machine before you pay for a cloud:

```
/monk deploy this locally
```

When it works, take it to a cloud:

```
/monk deploy this to Hetzner
```

## What you review

Each deploy opens a plan in the [local dashboard](/getting-started/local-dashboard): the services, their connections, missing configuration and, for cloud deploys, the machines and estimated cost. Credential forms open there too. Nothing is created until you approve.

## What you get

* The app running locally or in your cloud account
* Dockerfiles and a `MANIFEST` in your repository, written by your coding agent and validated by Monk
* A model of the app that later requests build on

Commit the Dockerfiles and `MANIFEST` with your code. They describe how the app runs.

## Keep going

As the app grows, ask for what it needs:

```
/monk add a Postgres database
/monk set up CI/CD
/monk give me a preview environment for each branch
```

## Next

* [Add a database](/guides/add-a-database)
* [Choose a cloud](/guides/choose-a-cloud)
* [How Monk works](/concepts/how-monk-works)


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