# Start Here

Apache Pinot is a real-time distributed OLAP datastore purpose-built for low-latency, high-throughput analytics. It ingests data from streaming and batch sources and makes it queryable in under a second. This guide walks you through everything you need to go from first contact to a working Pinot deployment.

## Onboarding path

Follow these pages in order for a complete introduction:

1. [What is Pinot?](/start-here/what-is-pinot.md) -- Understand what Pinot does and whether it fits your use case.
2. [10-minute quickstart](/start-here/ten-minute-quickstart.md) -- Launch a local cluster and run your first query in minutes.
3. [Install / deploy](/start-here/install.md) -- Set up Pinot for local development, Docker, or Kubernetes.
4. [First table + schema](/start-here/first-table-and-schema.md) -- Define a schema and create your first table.
5. [First batch ingest](/start-here/first-batch-ingest.md) -- Load data from a file into Pinot.
6. [First stream ingest](/start-here/first-stream-ingest.md) -- Connect Pinot to a streaming source for real-time data.
7. [First query](/start-here/first-query.md) -- Write SQL queries against your Pinot tables.

## Choose your path

### Just exploring?

Start with the conceptual overview, then try the quickstart to see Pinot in action with zero setup:

{% content-ref url="/pages/l502VePnQCx6QraC3Qkh" %}
[What is Pinot?](/start-here/what-is-pinot.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/xORpTeBUSuN79G8JifJ7" %}
[10-Minute Quickstart](/start-here/ten-minute-quickstart.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

### Ready to build?

Jump straight to installation and follow the linear onboarding path from step 3 onward:

{% content-ref url="/pages/JkPt4QP6Ryd3vkIhUNhA" %}
[Install / Deploy](/start-here/install.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

## Next step

{% content-ref url="/pages/l502VePnQCx6QraC3Qkh" %}
[What is Pinot?](/start-here/what-is-pinot.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.pinot.apache.org/start-here/getting-started.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.