first run

To get started with the git-annex assistant, just pick it from your system's list of applications.

It'll prompt you to set up a folder:

Then any changes you make to its folder will automatically be committed to git, and synced to repositories on other computers. You can use the interface to add repositories and control the git-annex assistant.

starting on boot

The git-annex assistant will automatically be started when you log in to desktop environments like Mac OS X, Gnome, XFCE, and KDE, and the menu item shown above can be used to open the webapp. On other systems, you may need to start it by hand.

To start the webapp, run git annex webapp at the command line.

To start the assistant without opening the webapp, you can run the command "git annex assistant --autostart". This is a good thing to configure your system to run automatically when you log in.