# Get started (/docs/dashboard/get-started)



**Get started** is the page you land on right after signing up, and it stays in the sidebar
forever — it never retires, even once every step is ticked, because your connection details live
on it.

## What it's for [#what-its-for]

Three steps take you from a brand-new account to an app whose spend you can see and cap. Order is
a suggestion, not a gate: nothing is greyed out, and the tick is the truth.

## What signup already gave you [#what-signup-already-gave-you]

| Thing                     | What you get                                                                                                                                                                          |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Workspace**             | One, named after you, on the Free plan. You are its admin.                                                                                                                            |
| **Project**               | One, called **Default Project**, environment *Development*.                                                                                                                           |
| **Loop rules**            | Three, already watching every agent run — exact prompt repeat, a 25-call per-run cap, and a $5 per-run cost cap. All three are **notify only**: they alert you and never stop a call. |
| **API key**               | **None.** Keys are shown once and only a scrambled copy is stored, so one nobody ever saw would be useless. You create the first one yourself.                                        |
| **Notification channels** | None.                                                                                                                                                                                 |

## The three steps [#the-three-steps]

| Step                                            | What it asks                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | Ticks when                                             |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **1. Create your API key**                      | One click, on this page.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | The project has a live API key.                        |
| **2. Add TokenPolice to your app, then run it** | Install the SDK — the page hands you the [skill install commands](/docs/get-started/coding-agent/install) (Claude Code, and `npx skills add` for Cursor, Copilot, Codex and Antigravity), and links to the manual Node and Python quickstarts. | Your workspace has reported at least one call.         |
| **3. Set your first budget and spending rule**  | Opens the rule template gallery.                                                                                                                                                                                                               | The workspace has at least one non-loop firewall rule. |

Step 2 is the only one that touches your code, and the page is explicit about what it changes:
*"Nothing your users see changes. TokenPolice reports what each call costs — it doesn't stop
anything, and it never starts stopping calls on its own."*

## Your connection details [#your-connection-details]

A permanent panel at the bottom holds the two values your app needs, as a copyable `.env` block:

```bash
TOKENPOLICE_API_KEY=tp_sk_...
TOKENPOLICE_BASE_URL=https://collect.tokenpolice.ai
```

Right after you create a key, the plaintext appears here — *"Copy the key somewhere safe now —
this is the only time we can show it."* Come back later and the key row shows a masked value with
no copy button, because we never stored the original. If you've lost it, **Replace it** issues a
new one and revokes the old.

## What to look for [#what-to-look-for]

* **Step 2 never ticks** — the SDK isn't reaching us. Check the two environment variables above,
  then [Nothing in the dashboard](/docs/troubleshooting/nothing-in-dashboard).
* **Steps ticked but the dashboard is empty** — your app reported, but the range is too narrow.
  Widen the time range on the [Overview](/docs/dashboard/overview).
* **You're a viewer, not an admin** — steps 1 and 3 tell you to ask an admin. Only admins create
  keys and rules.

## Next [#next]

<Cards>
  <Card title="API Keys" href="/docs/dashboard/api-keys" description="Rotate, replace and delete keys once you're past setup." />

  <Card title="Integration checklist" href="/docs/get-started/integration-checklist" description="Verify the SDK is reporting everything it should." />

  <Card title="Set your first rule" href="/docs/rules/templates" description="The template gallery step 3 opens." />
</Cards>