> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cobalt.peoplereign.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> From sign-up to a working agent in a few minutes.

# Quickstart

Cobalt gets you from sign-up to a working agent quickly. You pick a template,
connect the systems the agent needs, give it a personality and safety
boundaries, and try it — all before you put it in front of any employees.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create your tenant">
    [Sign up](/get-started/sign-up) — no card required, and you start with 100
    free credits. Name your workspace and Cobalt provisions an isolated tenant
    for your organization and drops you into the admin console. You are the
    first administrator.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick a starting template">
    From the **Agents** page, start a new agent. Choose a template that matches
    what you're building:

    * **IT helpdesk agent** — service desk, identity and access, team chat.
    * **HR support agent** — HRIS, time and pay, calendar.
    * **Customer success agent** — ticketing and CRM.
    * **Employee productivity agent** — email, calendar, docs, chat.
    * **Start from scratch** — a blank agent.

    Each template pre-selects the integrations a typical agent of that kind
    needs. You can swap or clear any of them.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose integrations and authorize">
    Confirm the integrations the agent should connect to (for example a service
    desk, an HRIS, and your identity provider), and add any extras. Review the
    access each one requests, then authorize. Integrations are the primary way an
    agent gets the ability to act in your systems — see
    [Integrations](/integrations/overview).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set personality and safety boundaries">
    Give the agent a tone (direct, warm, terse, or formal — or your own words)
    and turn on the safety boundaries you want, such as never repeating
    unmasked PII or handing off to a human for HR, legal, or compensation
    questions.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Try it in Preview">
    Open the agent's preview and ask it a real question. Preview is an internal
    test surface — conversations here don't reach employees and don't count
    against usage.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect a channel">
    When it behaves the way you want, connect a [channel](/channels/overview) —
    embed the [web widget](/channels/web-widget) on a portal, or install it in
    [Slack](/channels/slack) — and your agent is live.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Do I need a credit card to start?">
    No. Sign-up is card-free and every tenant starts with 100 free credits. See
    [Sign up & start free](/get-started/sign-up).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does testing in Preview cost anything?">
    No — Preview conversations don't reach employees and don't consume credits.
    You only spend credits on real conversations on a live channel.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I have to finish everything in one sitting?">
    No. Every choice is editable after the agent is live, and the sign-up flow
    itself resumes if you step away. Start small and refine as real
    conversations come in.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I connect a system that isn't offered?">
    If it speaks the Model Context Protocol, use the
    [MCP Server](/integrations/mcp-server) integration. Otherwise check the
    [catalog](/integrations/catalog) — it grows regularly.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next

* [Create your first agent](/get-started/create-your-first-agent) — the same
  flow in more detail.
* [How Cobalt works](/concepts/how-cobalt-works) — the concepts behind what you
  just built.
* [Examples](/examples/overview) — complete recipes to model yours on.