freeCodeCamp

What it is

freeCodeCamp is the open source codebase and curriculum of freeCodeCamp.org, which its README says “is run by a donor-supported 501(c)(3) charity”. The README also calls the site “a friendly community where you can learn to code for free” and says “This code is running live at freeCodeCamp.org”. The repository holds the platform and the curriculum behind it: lessons, workshops, labs, reviews and quizzes. Mindket’s setup notes say how to learn on the site, run the platform yourself, work on the curriculum and send a change.

1. Open freeCodeCamp.org/learn and pick a certification
2. Work through lessons, workshops, labs, reviews and quizzes
3. Finish the 5 required projects
4. Pass the exam
5. Claim the certification

Who it suits

Anyone who wants to learn web development, Python, databases or a professional language for free, and developers who want to help build the platform or its lessons. You do not need the repository to learn. The site is the product. The repository matters when you want to read how the lessons are stored, run your own copy or send a fix.

Skip the repository if you only want to learn. The site needs no install, and the maker’s setup is a development environment, not a production guide.

Where to use it

Learning happens on freeCodeCamp.org. The notes have a file for the site and for each place the code can run. The maker documents no setup for a coding agent, and its FAQ sets rules for AI tools.

• freeCodeCamp.org: the live site, in a browser, with nothing to install
• macOS and Linux: the maker’s Local Machine setup, with Git, Node.js, pnpm and Docker Compose
• Windows: the setup page says the project supports macOS and Linux only and to set up WSL2 first. GitHub Codespaces needs nothing installed on your machine
• A Dev Container: VS Code, Docker Desktop and the Dev Containers extension, on your own machine
• GitHub Codespaces: a 4-core, 16 GB machine on GitHub’s servers, with nothing installed locally
• Coding agents: the notes add a file with prompts and cautions, and the maker’s FAQ rules on AI tools

How to set it up

Get it saves a zip of Mindket’s setup notes in your downloads folder, with a file for each way of using freeCodeCamp. Learning on the site needs nothing installed. Running the platform needs a fork of the repository first, which is your own copy on GitHub.

1. Fork the repository on GitHub. That gives you your own copy.
2. Clone your fork and add the main repository. Use the first block below, with your GitHub name in place of YOUR_USER_NAME.
3. Free port 27017. Stop any MongoDB server already using it.
4. Install, seed and start the app. Run the second block. WSL2 users run pnpm run playwright:install-build-tools before pnpm install.
5. Open http://localhost:8000. A full curriculum build takes several minutes first.

The setup page numbers these steps for a local machine. The first block clones your fork and adds the main repository as a second remote:

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/YOUR_USER_NAME/freeCodeCamp.git
cd freeCodeCamp
git remote add upstream https://github.com/freeCodeCamp/freeCodeCamp.git

The second block creates the environment file, installs, starts MongoDB and Mailpit, seeds a test user and starts the app:

cp sample.env .env
pnpm install
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml -f docker/docker-compose.ports.yml up -d
pnpm run seed
pnpm run develop

The page says a full curriculum build takes several minutes.

How to use it

Pick the job first. To learn, use the site. To change the platform or the lessons, run your copy and build only what you touch.

To send a change, work on a new branch for each issue and never on main. The maker asks for conventional commit messages and pull request titles in the form type, optional scope and a short description. The types are fix, feat, refactor and docs. A pull request that changes how a page behaves should come with Playwright integration tests. The page’s example title is:

fix(curriculum): tests for the do...while loop challenge

Example

You want to see how the first lesson block of Responsive Web Design is stored. In curriculum/structure/superblocks/responsive-web-design-v9.json, the first chapter is html, its first module is basic-html and its first block is workshop-curriculum-outline. The block’s file in curriculum/structure/blocks/ gives it the label workshop and the layout challenge-grid, and lists its steps in order. Each step is a Markdown file named after its id, in curriculum/challenges/english/blocks/workshop-curriculum-outline/. Build and test only that block:

FCC_BLOCK='workshop-curriculum-outline' pnpm run develop
FCC_BLOCK='workshop-curriculum-outline' pnpm run test-curriculum-content

Mindket read these files on 3 November 2026 and did not run the platform, so no build time is measured here. To test just the first step, the maker’s page uses its id:

FCC_CHALLENGE_ID=6823ac607bfdbc46331b2559 pnpm run test-curriculum-content

For newcomers and experts

If you are new. Start on the site, not in the repository. You do not need Git, Node.js or Docker to learn. The setup page says you can delete your fork at any time and start again, so a mistake there costs little. The contributor FAQ sends beginners to the Basic Git Workflow page. If installing feels heavy, GitHub Codespaces installs nothing on your machine, and its first build takes several minutes.

For experts. The FAQ names the stack: Node.js, MongoDB, OAuth 2.0, React, Gatsby and Webpack. The repository is a pnpm workspace built with Turborepo, which the Git workflow page says the team uses for caching and parallel tasks. MongoDB runs as a replica set, which the compose file starts and initiates for you.

The curriculum build reads JSON structure files, and the FCC_ variables let you build one block, one superblock or one challenge alone. Translated challenges live in the i18n-curriculum submodule, which the file structure page says updates automatically. The FAQ says contributions to translate the curriculum are not accepted for now. In development, sample.env turns on a dev login mode, and the troubleshooting page says that sign-in route needs no password.

Good to know

The notes are Mindket’s own, read from the repository and the maker’s docs on 3 November 2026. They are not made or endorsed by freeCodeCamp.org, and they hold none of its lessons.

• License: the README says the software is under BSD-3-Clause and the files in /curriculum are copyright © 2014 freeCodeCamp.org. The notes quote neither lesson text nor challenge files. Read the License section before you reuse a lesson
• Development only: the setup pages describe a development environment. Mindket read no production guide for it, and did not run the platform
• Versions: the setup page calls a Node.js or pnpm version other than the listed one the most common cause of a failed setup
• Public port: in a codespace, port 3000 must stay public, and anyone with the URL can reach it. Stop the codespace when you finish
• Force push: the Git workflow page’s sync step runs git reset --hard upstream/main and then git push origin main --force on your fork. It also warns that you lose any pull request made from your fork’s main
• AI tools: the FAQ allows them in code, and says the team will not engage with replies on issues, pull requests or discussions that AI wrote. It may close low-effort pull requests
• Reaching out: setup downloads packages and container images, and sample.env points at freecodecamp.org addresses for the forum, news and radio. The docs do not list what a running copy contacts
• Removal: delete your clone, and stop and remove the Docker containers and the db-data volume with Docker’s own tools