Getting Started

This guide gets a full MetaLoom stack running locally in a few minutes using the demo container. No build tools or configuration files are required.

What You Will Run

The demo bundle starts three services side by side:

Loom — the asset management server (REST API on port 8092)
Loom UI — a browser-based management interface (default port 3000)
Loom App — a desktop client built with Electron (optional, launched separately)

Prerequisites

Docker and Docker Compose installed
A terminal

Start the Demo Stack

The metaloom/loom-demo image bundles Loom together with a pre-seeded PostgreSQL database and a set of sample assets so you can explore the system without any manual setup.

docker run -d \
  --name loom-demo \
  -p 8092:8092 \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  metaloom/loom-demo:latest

Once the container is running, Loom is available at http://localhost:8092 and the web UI at http://localhost:3000.

Default credentials:

Field Value

Field	Value
Username	`admin`
Password	`admin`

Username

admin

Password

admin

Loom UI

Loom UI is a browser-based management interface for the Loom server. It lets you browse assets, manage users, groups, roles, tags and API keys, and monitor running pipelines — all without touching the REST API directly.

Open http://localhost:3000 after starting the demo container.

Key areas of the UI:

Section	Purpose
Assets	Browse, search, upload and preview media assets
Users & Groups	Create and manage user accounts, group memberships and role assignments
API Keys	Generate and revoke long-lived API tokens (see Authentication)
Pipelines	View defined pipelines and monitor their execution state
Settings	Server configuration and system status

Section

Purpose

Assets

Browse, search, upload and preview media assets

Users & Groups

Create and manage user accounts, group memberships and role assignments

API Keys

Generate and revoke long-lived API tokens (see Authentication)

Pipelines

View defined pipelines and monitor their execution state

Settings

Server configuration and system status

Loom App

Loom App is a desktop application built with Electron. It embeds the Loom UI inside a native window and adds OS-level integrations:

System tray icon with quick access to the connected server
Native file drag-and-drop for asset ingestion
Local connection profiles for managing multiple Loom servers

Download the latest release from the Loom App releases page or build from source.

To connect Loom App to the demo instance, launch the app and point it at http://localhost:8092.

Next Steps

Once the stack is running and you can log in:

Explore the REST API — REST API Reference
Understand the authentication model — Authentication
Read how Cortex processes assets — Loom and Cortex Interaction
Deploy to production — Loom Artifacts, Helm Chart