> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://tero-0926be64-video-walkthrough.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Edge Quickstart

> Run Edge locally and verify one policy

Run Edge locally with a file-backed policy, send two test logs, and verify Edge drops the debug log and forwards the error log.

<Tip>
  Prefer an AI assistant to walk you through this? Run `npx skills add https://docs.usetero.com` to add these docs as a skill in Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor. Then ask questions like "how do I run Edge locally?" and your agent guides you using Tero's documentation.
</Tip>

## Before you begin

You need:

* Docker
* A Datadog intake endpoint and API key for your region
* A working directory for the quickstart files

This tutorial uses the Datadog distribution because it gives us a concrete log endpoint to test.

## 1. Create the Edge configuration

Create `config.json`:

```json config.json theme={null}
{
  "listen_address": "127.0.0.1",
  "listen_port": 8080,
  "upstream_url": "https://http-intake.logs.datadoghq.com",
  "metrics_url": "https://api.datadoghq.com",
  "log_level": "info",
  "policy_providers": [
    {
      "id": "local",
      "type": "file",
      "path": "/etc/edge/policies.json"
    }
  ]
}
```

If your Datadog account uses another region, replace `upstream_url` and `metrics_url` with the endpoints from [Edge Datadog](/edge/distributions/datadog).

You now have a local Edge listener on port `8080` and a file policy provider.

## 2. Create a policy

Create `policies.json`:

```json policies.json theme={null}
{
  "policies": [
    {
      "id": "drop-debug-logs",
      "name": "Drop debug logs",
      "log": {
        "match": [
          {
            "log_field": "status",
            "regex": "^(debug|trace|DEBUG|TRACE)$"
          }
        ],
        "keep": "none"
      }
    }
  ]
}
```

This policy matches Datadog log records whose `status` field is `debug` or `trace`. Edge drops matching logs.

## 3. Run Edge

Run the Datadog distribution:

```bash theme={null}
docker run --name tero-edge-quickstart --rm \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -e DD_API_KEY="$DD_API_KEY" \
  -v "$(pwd)/config.json:/etc/edge/config.json" \
  -v "$(pwd)/policies.json:/etc/edge/policies.json" \
  ghcr.io/usetero/edge-datadog:latest \
  /etc/edge/config.json
```

Leave this terminal running.

You should see Edge start and load the `local` policy provider.

## 4. Send a debug log

In another terminal, send a debug log to Edge:

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v2/logs \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data-binary @- <<'JSON'
[
  {
    "message": "quickstart debug log",
    "status": "debug",
    "service": "edge-quickstart"
  }
]
JSON
```

Edge should accept the request. Because the policy matches `status: debug`, Edge should drop the log before forwarding.

## 5. Send an error log

Send an error log to the same endpoint:

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v2/logs \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data-binary @- <<'JSON'
[
  {
    "message": "quickstart error log",
    "status": "error",
    "service": "edge-quickstart"
  }
]
JSON
```

This log should pass through because it does not match the policy.

## 6. Check Edge output

Return to the terminal running Edge.

You should see activity for the incoming requests. The debug request should show a policy match or dropped-log activity. The error request should show forwarding activity.

If Edge forwards both requests, confirm that `policies.json` is mounted at `/etc/edge/policies.json` and that the policy matches the `status` field.

## What you ran

You ran Edge locally, loaded one file-backed policy, sent two logs through Edge, and verified the policy decision.

That is the basic Edge loop: receive telemetry, match policies, apply the keep decision, and forward the result.

## Next steps

* Read [How Edge works](/edge/concepts) for the runtime model.
* Use [Config](/edge/edge-reference/config) for configuration fields.
* Use [Log filter](/edge/policy-reference/log-filter) for log matching and keep actions.
* Use [Edge Datadog](/edge/distributions/datadog) for Datadog-specific configuration.