= Getting started

This is a short tour that takes you from a fresh install to being productive with
Projectile in a few minutes. Everything here links into the rest of the manual,
where you'll find the full details.

== Install and enable Projectile

Install Projectile from MELPA (see xref:installation.adoc[Installation] for the
other options), then add this to your Emacs configuration:

[source,elisp]
----
(projectile-mode +1)
;; Projectile ships no default prefix key, so bind one yourself.
;; Popular choices are `s-p' (macOS) and `C-c p'.
(define-key projectile-mode-map (kbd "C-c p") 'projectile-command-map)
----

NOTE: The rest of this manual writes keybindings as `s-p ...`; just substitute
whatever prefix you picked above.

TIP: Pair Projectile with a modern completion UI such as
https://github.com/minad/vertico[Vertico], plus
https://github.com/minad/marginalia[Marginalia] for annotations (file sizes,
modification times, major modes) next to each candidate. It's a much nicer
experience at every prompt. See
xref:configuration.adoc#recommended-completion-stack[A recommended setup].

== Open a project

There's no explicit "open project" step. Just visit any file inside a
version-controlled repository, or inside a directory Projectile recognizes as a
project (one holding a `Gemfile`, `pom.xml`, `package.json`, and dozens more),
and that becomes your current project.

If a directory isn't detected automatically, drop an empty `.projectile` file at
its root to mark it. See xref:projects.adoc[Projects] for how detection works.

== Your first commands

With a file from the project open, try these:

* kbd:[s-p f] - jump to any file in the project.
* kbd:[s-p p] - switch to another project (then pick a file in it).
* kbd:[s-p b] - switch to another buffer belonging to the project.
* kbd:[s-p s g] - search the project for some text.
* kbd:[s-p t] - toggle between an implementation file and its test.
* kbd:[s-p m] - open the dispatch menu, which lists every Projectile command.

TIP: If you can't recall a binding, kbd:[s-p m] is the one to memorize - the
dispatch menu shows everything else.

== Where to go next

* xref:usage.adoc[Usage] - the full command list and the dispatch menu.
* xref:projects.adoc[Projects] - project types, detection, and jumping between related files.
* xref:tasks.adoc[Project commands, tasks & tests] - compiling, testing and running a project.
* xref:configuration.adoc[Configuration] - tuning Projectile to your workflow.
* xref:indexing.adoc[Indexing & performance] - keeping Projectile fast on big or remote projects.
