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Quickstart
In this quickstart we will build a simple demo using free Demoshell account.
1. Create an account
Register. It is free. You get a starter project called demo.
2. Verify your email
Click the link we send you. You can look around before that, but building, saving, publishing and embedding stay locked until the address is verified. Accounts that are never verified are deleted after 30 days.
3. Open the project and press "▶ Create your first VM"
It creates a VM named mydemo and opens the studio's build form.
4. Fill in the build form
| Field | For a first run |
|---|---|
| VM name | mydemo |
| Base image | Alpine (minimal) |
| vCPUs | 1 |
| Build script | apk add mc |
| VM startup | An app → mc |
Feel free to replace build script with your own script if you'd like to install something else. Don't forget to update VM startup as well: it decides what a visitor lands in. "An app" leaves that app running in the saved machine, so the demo opens straight into it. The other answer, "A shell prompt", takes commands to run after the VM loads — where you set the directory the demo opens in and print a welcome message.
5. Press "▶ Build"
The build boots a base Linux image in your browser tab, runs your commands in it, and saves the machine when the last command finishes.
Keep the tab open until it is done. The build runs on your machine, so don't close it until it finishes.
When it finishes, the panel says the VM is saved and live, and the build VM shuts down.
Try it
After the build has finished, press Back to the VM and ▶ Launch it. That boots your saved machine. Nothing you type in it is saved, so poke at it freely.
6. Share it
The share panel gives you three things:
- a link to a hosted full-page demo,
- a README badge (an image that links to that page),
- an embed snippet for your own site.
Link and badge work on every plan. Embedding on your own site is a paid feature.
Then what?
- Replace the script with your own install commands — Create a VM.
- Add a checklist so visitors know what to try — Create a guide.
- Make the demo rebuild itself on every release — Automatic builds.