# Farrow documentation

> Install Farrow, boot a Pigsty inventory, operate the one deployment, and look up the exact configuration and CLI contracts.

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LLMS index: [llms.txt](/llms.txt)

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Farrow turns one Pigsty-compatible Inventory into fixed-IP QEMU virtual
machines. It manages one deployment per Unix user; state lives under
`~/.farrow`, so lifecycle and SSH commands work from any directory.

Choose the shortest path for your task:

- **[Start](start/)** — install, first lab, daily changes, and troubleshooting.
- **[Reference](reference/)** — exact Inventory fields, commands, flags,
  output, and exit codes.
- **[About](about/)** — simplified design, native validation, limits, and
  release gates.

New users should follow [the tutorial](start/tutorial/). The complete normal
path is `farrow setup`, `farrow up`, then `farrow status`.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Farrow is pre-1.0. Current source behavior, native validation, packaging,
> release, and publication are separate gates. Read [Status](about/status/)
> before depending on a development build.

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Section pages:

- [Start](/docs/start/): Install Farrow, boot one or four nodes, operate the deployment, and resolve common failures.
- [Reference](/docs/reference/): Exact contracts for the Pigsty-compatible Inventory and Farrow command line.
- [About Farrow](/docs/about/): The simplified product model, implementation boundaries, native evidence, current limits, and release gates.