Installation

The container image is the fastest path: everything's bundled. A ready-to-run build ships with every release for Windows.

Docker ​

Create a docker-compose.yml next to your content:

services:
  warden:
    image: ghcr.io/melosso/warden:latest
    container_name: warden
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    volumes:
      - ./content:/app/content
      - ./data:/app/data

Mount your own content/ folder (.md files and an optional config.json), and data/ so the SQLite heartbeat history survives container recreates. Then bring it up:

mkdir -p data
docker compose up -d

The status page is now at http://localhost:8080. For running it as a long-lived service, the Docker Compose notes go further.

Windows and IIS ​

1. Download the latest *-Windows_x64.zip from Releases.
2. Extract it into your site folder, for example C:\inetpub\warden.
3. Create an IIS site pointed at that folder, with the CLR version set to "No Managed Code".
4. Install the .NET 11 Hosting Bundle.
5. Start the site and browse to it.

The zip includes a web.config wired for in-process hosting, no manual edits needed. A *-Linux_x64.zip build ships with each release too; that installation path isn't documented yet.

To change the port, hide drafts, or keep an API key out of your content folder, see environment variables.