Getting Started

Verified against the ghcr.io/permify/permify container at commit aa3a7c6. Commands assume Docker and a terminal.

Prerequisites

• Docker (to run the container) or a Go 1.25+ toolchain to build from source.
• A free TCP port for REST (3476) and one for gRPC (3478).
• PostgreSQL is optional for a first run; the default starts with an in-memory store (README.md:100-114).

Install

The fastest path is the container. It starts with an in-memory store and no external dependencies.

docker run -p 3476:3476 -p 3478:3478 ghcr.io/permify/permify serve

To build from source instead:

go build ./cmd/permify
./permify serve

A first working setup

This runs Permify and reaches its API. The default configuration serves REST on 3476 and gRPC on 3478, storing authorization data in memory (README.md:104-114).

Start the server with the install command above. Then:

1. Confirm the API answers (see "Verify it works" below).
2. Write a schema, insert relationships (and attributes for ABAC), then ask Check. This is the minimal authorization loop.

The server exposes both REST (3476) and gRPC (3478). The Playground under playground/ is the quickest way to author a schema and try checks before wiring an SDK from sdk/.

Verify it works

Permify exposes a health endpoint on the REST port. A running server answers:

curl localhost:3476/healthz

This is the connection test the project documents (README.md:116-121).

Where to go next

• Production data: switch the in-memory store for PostgreSQL and run permify migrate (registered in cmd/permify/permify.go).
• Distributed deployment: the binary registers a consistent-hash gRPC balancer and the Kubernetes resolver at startup (cmd/permify/permify.go:16-17).
• Configuration, schema language, and API reference live in the official documentation linked from the README (README.md:113-114).