> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.light.js.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.light.js.org/guides/getting-started.md).

# getting started

## Prerequisites

* Node >= `8.0.0`
* NPM >= `5.0.0`

## Install

Install light

```bash
npm install light
```

and add the dev script to your `package.json`.

```javascript
{
  // ...
  "scripts": {
    "start": "light start",
    "dev": "light dev"
  }
  // ...
}
```

## Usage

Once you've installed light, all `.js` files under the `routes` folder will be used to serve pages.

To get started, populate `routes/index.js`.

{% code title="routes/index.js" %}

```javascript
const { createRoute } = require('light');

const { route } = createRoute('index');

module.exports = route(() => {
  return {
    hello: 'world',
  };
});
```

{% endcode %}

Run `npm run dev` to start the development server. You should see an output in your terminal similar to the one below.

```
› start      🔥 igniting the server 🔥
› listening  on port 3000
› hmr        starting the hot reloader
› hmr        watching for changes
```

View your resulting website at [localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000)!

## Conclusion

That's it! You now have a dev server that

* hot swaps to speed up development routes
* supports many different serverless and hosting platforms
* has very little magic behind the scenes, what you see in a route is what you get

Feel free to continue with the guides in the sidebar to understand more of the framework!