Account Setup Checklist

Before Day 1, you need accounts on nine services. Most of these are free for you because the program (under [LLC name]) is providing the paid pieces. Work through this checklist top to bottom; allow about 45 minutes total.

When everything’s done, you’ll have one final step that confirms your setup works. Post a screenshot of that step in #setup-complete on Discord.

✅ 1. GitHub account

GitHub is where every line of code we write this summer lives. If you already have a personal GitHub, that’s fine to reuse.

Steps:

1. Visit github.com/signup and create an account if you don’t have one.
2. Use your real name and a professional username — recruiters will see this.
3. Verify your email address.
4. Reply to the email I sent you with your GitHub username so I can add you to the cohort GitHub organization ([cohort-org] or whatever the LLC names it).
5. Once you receive the GitHub email invitation to the org, accept it.

Verify it worked: open github.com/orgs/[cohort-org] (or whatever the actual org URL is — Kamal will share). You should see the org’s repositories.

✅ 2. Discord account + cohort server

This is where async chat and team coordination happens.

Steps:

1. Visit discord.com/download and install the desktop app (better than the browser version).
2. Create an account if you don’t have one. Use a clear display name — your real first name + last initial is fine.
3. Click the cohort invite link in your welcome email.
4. Once joined, head to the #introductions channel and post a 2-sentence intro: who you are and what you’re hoping to build.
5. Find your name in the cohort roster channel; an admin will assign you the student role and any team channel access.

Verify it worked: you can see channels including #announcements, #general, #help, #wins, #setup-complete.

✅ 3. Anthropic Console — your API key

You’ll receive a pre-provisioned Anthropic API key from Kamal. Don’t sign up for your own — the cohort uses one shared organization with per-student keys, all funded by the LLC’s Anthropic Startup Program credits.

Steps:

1. Wait for an email from Anthropic with subject “You’ve been invited to [LLC name]‘s organization on Anthropic.”
2. Click the invitation link, sign in with the email Kamal used to invite you.
3. Once accepted, Kamal will share your API key via 1Password / a secure channel — never via Discord or email.
4. Save your key somewhere durable: macOS Keychain, 1Password, Bitwarden, or your password manager of choice. Don’t paste it into a code file or commit it to Git. Ever.

Verify it worked: in your terminal:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-xxx... # your key
curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "claude-haiku-4-5-20251001", "max_tokens": 100, "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Say hello in one short sentence."}]}'

You should see a JSON response with Claude saying hello. If you got a response, your API key works.

✅ 4. Azure subscription access

Microsoft Azure is where your apps will run. You don’t sign up for Azure individually — Kamal pre-provisions a subscription per team plus a personal subscription per student under the LLC’s Microsoft Founders Hub credits.

Steps:

1. Wait for an email from Microsoft / Azure: “You’ve been added to the Subscription [name].”
2. Click the link, sign in with your Microsoft account. If you don’t have one, you’ll be prompted to create one — use your real first/last name.
3. After signing in, you’ll see the Azure portal with your subscription listed.

Verify it worked: portal.azure.com → Subscriptions in the search bar → you should see at least one subscription whose name starts with the cohort prefix Kamal shared in your welcome email.

✅ 5. Clerk dev account

Clerk is the auth provider we’ll use for sign-in/sign-up flows in the capstone. Each student creates a personal Clerk dev account so you can experiment freely.

Steps:

1. Visit clerk.com → “Sign up.”
2. Sign up with your GitHub account (easiest).
3. After signing in, you’ll be prompted to create a new application. Skip this — we’ll create the real one in Week 5.

Verify it worked: you can see your Clerk dashboard at dashboard.clerk.com.

✅ 6. OpenAI API key (for embeddings)

We use Anthropic’s Claude for chat-style AI but OpenAI’s embedding model for converting text into vectors (used for semantic search). The cohort has a shared OpenAI key — pre-provisioned by Kamal, no individual signup needed.

Steps:

1. Same flow as Anthropic: Kamal will invite you to the LLC’s OpenAI organization.
2. Once invited, your personal OpenAI API key will be shared via the same secure channel as your Anthropic key.
3. Save it the same way (Keychain / password manager).

Verify it worked: in your terminal:

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxx... # your key
curl https://api.openai.com/v1/embeddings \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "text-embedding-3-small", "input": "Hello, world."}'

You should see a JSON response with a vector of 1,536 numbers (the embedding of your input). If you got a response, your OpenAI key works.

✅ 7. ElevenLabs API key (for text-to-speech)

We use ElevenLabs to turn agent-generated scripts into audio (the podcast pipeline in Week 6). The cohort has a shared ElevenLabs account; Kamal pre-provisions a per-student key.

Steps:

1. Wait for Kamal to share your ElevenLabs API key via the secure channel (1Password or similar).
2. Save the key in your password manager. Don’t paste into code or commit to Git.

Verify it worked: in your terminal:

export ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=el-xxx... # your key
curl -X POST "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/text-to-speech/JBFqnCBsd6RMkjVDRZzb" \
  -H "xi-api-key: $ELEVENLABS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"text": "Hello from Summer Training.", "model_id": "eleven_turbo_v2_5"}' \
  --output hello.mp3

Play hello.mp3. If you hear a voice saying “Hello from Summer Training,” your ElevenLabs key works.

✅ 8. Tavily Search API key (for web search)

Tavily is the web-search API our agents use for grounding. The cohort has a shared Tavily account; Kamal pre-provisions a per-student key.

Steps:

1. Wait for Kamal to share your Tavily API key.
2. Save it in your password manager.

Verify it worked: in your terminal:

export TAVILY_API_KEY=tvly-xxx... # your key
curl -X POST https://api.tavily.com/search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"api_key\": \"$TAVILY_API_KEY\", \"query\": \"latest AI news\", \"max_results\": 3}"

You should see JSON with 3 results (titles + URLs + content snippets). If you got results, your Tavily key works.

✅ 9. Langfuse cloud account (for agent observability)

Langfuse traces every agent step so you can see what your AI did and how much it cost. Free tier is enough; sign up with your own account.

Steps:

1. Visit cloud.langfuse.com → Sign up with GitHub.
2. Create a new project named [your-name]-capstone.
3. Go to Settings → API keys. Note both keys for later — we’ll wire them up in Week 7.

Verify it worked: you see your project dashboard at cloud.langfuse.com.

✅ 10. Final check: post in Discord

If all six items worked:

1. Take a screenshot of any one of the verification commands you ran (the curl response, or your Azure portal showing the subscription, or the Clerk dashboard).
2. Post it in #setup-complete on Discord with a one-line message: “Account setup complete and verified.”

That’s the signal that you’re administratively ready for Day 1.

Troubleshooting

“My GitHub invitation email never arrived.” Check spam. If still missing, DM Kamal on Discord with the email address you used to sign up for GitHub.

“My API key isn’t working.” First, double-check the key is exactly what was shared (no extra spaces, no quote marks pasted in). Then check your terminal command for typos. If still failing, paste the exact error message in #help on Discord and a TA will help.

“I don’t have a Microsoft account.” Sign up at signup.live.com. Use a personal email address (not your school email — those tend to be locked down by IT).

“My screenshot has my API key visible.” Edit the screenshot to redact (cover) the key before posting publicly. API keys are like passwords; don’t share them.

Important reminders

• Never commit API keys to Git. Ever. We’ll learn how to use .env files and .gitignore in Week 4 to make this automatic, but starting now: keys go in your password manager, not in any file you’ll push to GitHub.
• The cohort GitHub org and Azure subscription are professional environments. Anything you push or deploy is technically visible to the program’s vendors (GitHub, Microsoft) and to your cohort. Don’t push anything sensitive — passwords, personal data, anything you wouldn’t show in a job interview.
• If you suspect a key has leaked, message Kamal immediately. Better to rotate the key than to ignore the suspicion.

See you on Day 1.