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Once you’ve received an invite and created an account, you’ll be guided through the following steps to deploy your first agentic workforce. At this phase of development we prefer to join you on a call synchronously to guide you through the process — but this document is here for reference if needed.
auto is in a private beta — you cannot sign up and start using the product without an invite. Request access on auto.sh, wait for an email, then follow the steps below.
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Step 1 — Design your software factory

Choose one of two paths:
  • Choose a ready-made team — today the only selectable preset is The Accelerator — a minimally viable team of agents that can help you get started.
  • Start from scratch — describe any automation you want and build from a blank canvas with a concierge agent.
This choice determines which .auto/agents/ files auto adds in the installation PR.This is just a starting point — you can always remix your software factory later through merged edits to the .auto/ directory.
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Step 2 — Connect GitHub

Install the auto GitHub App so agents can read code, open pull requests, and react to repository events.
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Step 3 — Connect Slack

Authorize auto in your Slack workspace so you can communicate with your agents where you already work — questions land in threads, finished work arrives as updates, and you can steer any session from the thread after you close the browser tab.
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Step 4 — Open the installation PR

Choose the configuration repository — the repo whose .auto/ directory becomes source of truth for this project.
If the repository already contains a .auto/ directory — for example, you forked a template repo — auto skips the PR and syncs the committed resources directly instead.
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Step 5 — Merge the installation PR

Merging is the moment your team comes online. Review the PR on GitHub — every agent, model, and trigger is in the diff. auto also posts a Sync plan check and comment on the PR (the same dry run GitHub Sync uses for every .auto/ change).
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Step 6 — Connect your OpenAI subscription Optional

Link the personal OpenAI credential your agents will use via the npx automate CLI command shown on the step. The credential stays scoped to your account; you can adjust usage policy and quota limits later in project settings.This step is optional — but, if you have an OpenAI subscription, it will make your factory vastly more cost-effective.
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Step 7 — Complete setup and meet your team

When deployment finishes, you’ll be redirected to the dashboard where your Chief of Staff will greet you and introduce you to the agents you have available to you out-of-the-box.
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Step 8 — Lift-and-shift your environment

Your Chief of Staff will inspect your README, scripts, and any existing .auto environment authoring, and work with you to configure in .auto/fragments/ a reusable environment configuration that achieves lift-and-shift parity with your local development environment.
This is a one-time operation and may take up to 15 minutes to complete.
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Step 9 — First automation

You’ll then work with your Chief of Staff to build your first automation.This will be a simple automation that will help you get a flavor for how you can use your new factory to build automations — but feel free to push the limits and go further.
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Step 10 — You're ready to go

You’re now ready to go! Shepherd day to day product work through your factory, or build out more complex automations to help you and your team be 10x more productive — the only limit is your imagination.

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