AdminLTE is an HTML template — there's no build step required to use it. This page gets you to a working dashboard in about ten minutes, without npm, without a build pipeline, without learning Astro.
If you're integrating AdminLTE into a real project, the [Installation](introduction.html) page covers npm, Composer, and source-build workflows.
##### 1. Grab the CDN snippets
Copy these tags into the `
` of a new HTML file. They pull AdminLTE, Bootstrap 5.3, Popper, OverlayScrollbars, and Bootstrap Icons from jsDelivr — no install needed.
```html
```
And these just before ``:
```html
```
##### 2. The minimum viable layout
This is the smallest AdminLTE page that still feels like AdminLTE — a header, a collapsible sidebar, and a main content area. Drop it between the CSS and JS tags above:
```html
Hello, AdminLTE
Welcome
Edit this file to start building your dashboard.
```
Open it in a browser. The hamburger button at the top-left collapses the sidebar — that's AdminLTE's [PushMenu](javascript/pushmenu.html) plugin working out of the box, wired by `data-lte-toggle="sidebar"`.
##### 3. What's actually happening
The four classes that do the heavy lifting:
| Class | What it does |
|---|---|
| `app-wrapper` | The CSS grid root — defines header / sidebar / main / footer regions |
| `app-header` | Stuck to the top of the viewport when `layout-fixed` is on the body |
| `app-sidebar` | Collapsible side rail. Add `sidebar-expand-lg` to body to control breakpoint |
| `app-main` | Scrollable content region — everything else lives here |
The [Layout](layout.html) page covers the full wrapper structure and the responsive options.
##### 4. Add a working JavaScript widget
AdminLTE ships seven JavaScript plugins. All of them are wired via `data-lte-*` attributes — no JavaScript code needed.
Drop this in the content area to see the card-widget plugin in action (try the buttons in the card header):
```html
Collapsible card
Click the minus icon to collapse; the X to remove.
```
##### 5. Where to go next
You now have a working AdminLTE page. From here:
- **Make it pretty** → [Customization & Theming](customization.html) — change colors, fonts, and spacing via SCSS variables or CSS custom properties.
- **Make it functional** → [JavaScript Plugins](javascript/layout.html) — full reference for all seven plugins.
- **Make it dark** → [Color Mode](color-mode.html) — light/dark/auto toggle.
- **Make it international** → [RTL Support](rtl.html) — right-to-left layouts for Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, etc.
- **Add real widgets** → [Recommended Integrations](integrations.html) — date pickers, multi-selects, charts, rich text editors. AdminLTE keeps its dep tree lean; this page tells you which third-party libraries to drop in.
If you're upgrading an existing AdminLTE 3 project, see the [Migration from v3](migration.html) guide for breaking changes.