Getting started

This guide takes you from nothing to a working space with other people in it.

The journey

1. Install: get the Urchin app (and the node inside it) onto your machine, and know how to trust what you downloaded.
2. First run: create your identity, take the guided tour, learn the first commands.
3. Your first Hall: make rooms, found a Hall, decide how people get in.
4. Bringing people in: invites, meeting someone in person, friends and petnames.

Before you begin

• A computer running Windows 10/11, Linux (x64), or macOS (Intel or Apple Silicon; macOS is experimental). There is also an Android thin client for joining an existing node from your phone.
• About 15 minutes for the full journey.
• Alpha access. Downloads are currently tester-only; your welcome note has the link.

No programming required. If you can type short commands, you can do all of this.

Two ways to use a node

Most people use the Urchin client, the graphical app with guided onboarding and a built-in tour. If you prefer a terminal, any SSH client can connect to a node directly and use exactly the same verbs. These docs show the client path and note the SSH differences where they matter.