Get started
This is the linear path from a fresh account to a coding agent running. There are no branches in it and no options to weigh — everything optional has been moved out of the way.
Most of it is already done for you. Signing up creates your workspace, three environments and a project to launch into, so there are two things left, and one of them is a single command. Budget about ten minutes, most of which is waiting for a container to start.
PlatformSmith walks you through the same path in the app itself, as a setup checklist. These pages follow that checklist step for step, so the page and the screen never disagree.
The path
| Step | What you end up with | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | What signing up creates for you | A clear idea of what already exists — and the one thing that does not |
| 1 | The setup checklist | An understanding of what is gating your first launch |
| 2 | Add your coding-agent credential | Claude Code or Codex able to run on your model account |
| 3 | Set up your environment | A controller connected to your sandbox environment |
| 4 | Your first session | A running sandbox with an agent in it, and a recap of what each noun meant |
Connecting GitHub is not a step. You need it only when you want to create a project from a repository, so it has its own page and you can reach it when you get there.
Before you start
You need one thing that PlatformSmith cannot give you, and one thing it can:
- A coding-agent credential — an Anthropic or OpenAI credential you already have, or a Claude or ChatGPT subscription. The agent runs on your model account, so this is not optional and there is no trial key. What counts as one.
- Somewhere to run containers — a Docker host or a Kubernetes cluster you can run one install command against. A laptop with Docker Desktop is fine for evaluating. Your environments already exist; what they need is a host.
Then most of this is already done for you — accepting an invitation creates nothing, because their setup already exists. Read What signing up creates for you and skip straight to your first session.