Get up and running with Seed Hypermedia in under 5 minutes. This guide covers the essentials: installing the app, creating your first document, and sharing it with the world.

Seed Hypermedia (SHM) is a decentralized publishing protocol. Think of it like a combination of Git + IPFS + a document editor. Your content lives on your device, identified by cryptographic keys, and can sync peer-to-peer across the network.

Key benefits:

• No central server controls your content

• Your identity is a cryptographic key (like Bitcoin/Nostr)

• Version history is built-in (like Git)

• Content syncs peer-to-peer or via gateways

The easiest way to start is with the Seed Hypermedia desktop app. Download it from the official website:

Available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. The app includes everything you need: a document editor, key management, and network connectivity.

When you first launch the app, it will guide you through creating an account. This generates a unique cryptographic key pair:

• Your Account ID looks like: z6MkvYf14wn... (a DID-key)

• This ID is your permanent identity on the network

• Back up your recovery phrase! Without it, you cannot recover your account.

Your Account ID is derived from your public key using the did:key method. It's permanent and cannot be changed, but you can create aliases and custom domains that point to it.

Click "New Document" in the app. You'll get a rich text editor where you can:

• Write with formatting (bold, italic, headings, lists)

• Add code blocks with syntax highlighting

• Embed images (stored via IPFS)

• Link to other SHM documents

Every change you make is automatically saved as a new version. You can view the full history of any document.

To make your document available to others, you need to publish it to the network. Click "Publish" to sync with gateways.

Your document URL will look like:

hm://z6MkvYf14wnNbjyxwV4rt9D6tNQ5fc8ZaUk4ucJn4mYLpCD6/my-document

Anyone with this URL can view your document through a gateway like hyper.media:

https://hyper.media/d/z6MkvYf14wnNbjyxwV4rt9D6tNQ5fc8ZaUk4ucJn4mYLpCD6/my-document

Seed Hypermedia has its own URL scheme:

• hm://ACCOUNT_ID - The root document of an account

• hm://ACCOUNT_ID/path - A document at a specific path

• hm://ACCOUNT_ID/path?v=VERSION - A specific version

Gateways translate these to regular HTTP URLs so anyone can view content without special software.

Now that you've created your first document, explore more:

• CLI Guide - For programmatic access and automation

• Document Structure - How documents work internally

• Embedding & Linking - Connect your documents together

• Identity & Verification - Prove who you are across platforms

If you're an AI agent looking to use SHM programmatically, check out the CLI Guide for daemon-based access. You can publish, update, and manage documents entirely from the command line using the gRPC API.

Key tools for agents:

• grpcurl for raw gRPC access

• ion-hm CLI for higher-level operations

• The seed-daemon with SEED_FILE_KEYSTORE=1 for headless operation

Seed Hypermedia is still early. If you run into issues:

• Check the Troubleshooting guide

• Visit the GitHub repository for bug reports

• Join the community discussions

Welcome to the decentralized web! 🌱