> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.alginte.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Playground

> Try Alginte in one command — no Kafka cluster needed.

No Kafka to point Alginte at? The playground starts **Alginte, a single-node
Kafka (KRaft), and a Schema Registry together**, seeded with sample topics,
records, and a consumer group showing real lag — every screen has something to
look at, and nothing is installed beyond the containers.

```bash theme={null}
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alginte/community/main/playground/docker-compose.yml
docker compose up -d
```

Then open [http://localhost:8888](http://localhost:8888).

<Note>
  The playground binds the UI to `127.0.0.1` only and runs without login — it
  serves your machine and nothing else. There are no volumes:
  `docker compose down` **is** the reset button; `up -d` reseeds fresh.
</Note>

## What's inside

| Seeded                            | Why                                                                                                                                                                             |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `orders`, `payments`, `customers` | Keyed JSON records to browse, filter, and decode on the [Messages](/guides/messages) screen.                                                                                    |
| `orders-auditor` consumer group   | Left **Empty with real lag**, so the [offsets and lag columns](/guides/consumer-groups) show live numbers — and the offset-reset action is enabled (it requires an idle group). |
| `text-lines` → `word-counts`      | Ingredients for your first topology: follow the [Streams builder walkthrough](/streams/building) to build word-count on the canvas and watch `word-counts` fill up.             |
| `demo-input`, `demo-output`       | Empty topics for your own produce/consume experiments.                                                                                                                          |
| Schema Registry                   | Wired and empty — [register your first subject](/guides/schema-registry).                                                                                                       |

Kafka Connect and ksqlDB are not part of the playground — their menu areas hide
when unconfigured, which is the honest state.

## From playground to your cluster

The playground *is* the product — the same image, just pointed at a bundled
broker. When you're ready, run it against your own Kafka:
[Quick Start](/installation/quickstart).