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Getting Started

This guide walks you through getting access to Strongly.AI, account creation, and your first steps on the platform.

Step 1: Get Access to Strongly.AI​

Strongly.AI is available through three deployment options:

  • Strongly Cloud -- fully managed service hosted and operated by Strongly
  • Customer Cloud -- deployed into your own AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure tenant
  • On-Premise -- deployed on your own infrastructure

To get started, contact sales@strongly.ai to discuss which deployment option is right for your organization.

Step 2: Create Your Account​

Registration​

  1. Navigate to /register on your Strongly.AI instance
  2. Fill in the registration form:
    • Full Name -- your display name on the platform
    • Email -- a valid email address (used for login)
    • Password -- must meet SOC 2 strength requirements: at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number, and one special character
    • Confirm Password -- re-enter your password
    • Accept Terms and Conditions -- required before submitting
  3. Click Register

Alternatively, if Google OAuth is configured on your instance, you can click Sign up with Google to register using your Google account.

Account Activation​

New accounts are created with an inactive status. You will be redirected to a /pending-approval page. An administrator must review and activate your account before you can access the platform.

All new accounts are created with the app role, which provides access to the Dashboard. An administrator can upgrade your role to developer or admin to unlock additional platform features.

Step 3: Log In​

  1. Navigate to the login page
  2. Enter your email and password, or use Sign in with Google if configured
  3. If Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is enforced on your account, you will be prompted to authenticate using one of the following methods:
    • Authenticator app (TOTP) -- scan a QR code with an app such as Google Authenticator or Authy
    • Email verification codes -- a one-time code is sent to your registered email

Step 4: Explore the Dashboard​

After logging in, you will see the Dashboard. The features visible in the sidebar depend on your assigned role.

Core Features:

  • Dashboard -- platform overview and key metrics
  • Apps -- deploy and manage containerized applications
  • Add-ons -- provision managed databases and services (MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Redis, RabbitMQ, and others)
  • Workflows -- build automation pipelines using the STAN AI assistant or the visual builder
    • Builder, Monitor, Nodes, Tools
  • Data Sources -- connect to external databases and storage systems
  • AI Gateway -- deploy and manage AI/LLM models
    • Models, Fine-tuning, Analytics, Guardrails, Prompts
  • Marketplace -- browse and deploy pre-built templates
  • Projects -- organize work and create development workspaces

MLOps:

  • Workbench -- interactive development environment
  • Model Registry -- version and manage ML models
  • AutoML -- automated machine learning pipelines
  • Experiments -- track and compare experiment runs

Administration (admin role required):

  • Governance -- Manager, Solutions, Policies, Snapshots, Compliance, Audit Log
  • Platform -- Kubernetes cluster management
  • Environments -- manage deployment environments
  • Users -- user management and role assignments
  • MFA Settings -- configure multi-factor authentication policies
  • FinOps -- cost tracking and optimization
  • Executions -- view and manage workflow executions

Support & Tools:

  • STAN -- AI assistant for building workflows and answering platform questions
  • FAQs -- frequently asked questions
  • Contact -- reach the Strongly.AI team
Role-Based Access

New accounts receive the app role, which provides access to the Dashboard only. Contact your administrator to request a role upgrade to developer (access to most features) or admin (full platform access). See Users and Roles for details.

Step 5: Deploy Your First Application​

Option A: Deploy from the Marketplace​

  1. Click Marketplace in the sidebar
  2. Browse available templates or search for a specific one
  3. Select a template and click Deploy
  4. Configure the application name and any required environment variables
  5. Click Deploy Application
  6. Wait for the build and deployment to complete (typically 2-3 minutes)
  7. Access your running application from the Apps page

Option B: Deploy Your Own Code​

Prerequisites
  • Your application code in a directory
  • A Dockerfile in the project root
  • A strongly.manifest.yaml configuration file (see AI Applications for details)
# 1. Create a strongly.manifest.yaml
cat > strongly.manifest.yaml << 'EOF'
version: "1.0"
type: nodejs
name: my-first-app
description: My first Strongly.AI application
ports:
  - port: 3000
    name: http
    expose: true
env:
  - name: NODE_ENV
    value: "production"
resources:
  cpu_request: "200m"
  memory_request: "512Mi"
EOF

# 2. Package your application
zip -r myapp.zip . -x "node_modules/*" ".git/*"

# 3. Upload via the Dashboard
# - Go to Apps -> Deploy App
# - Upload myapp.zip
# - Select your target environment
# - Click Deploy

Step 6: Create an Add-on (Optional)​

Add-ons are managed database instances provisioned directly on the platform.

  1. Go to Add-ons and click Create Add-on
  2. Select a database type (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MySQL, Redis, RabbitMQ, and others)
  3. Configure the instance name and resource allocation
  4. Click Create
  5. Once provisioned, connection details are available on the add-on detail page
  6. Add-ons can be referenced in your apps and workflows via STRONGLY_SERVICES

See Add-ons for full documentation.

Step 7: Connect a Data Source (Optional)​

Data sources are connections to external databases and storage systems outside the platform.

  1. Go to Data Sources and click Create Data Source
  2. Select your database or storage type (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, S3, Snowflake, BigQuery, and others)
  3. Enter the connection details (host, port, database, credentials)
  4. Click Test Connection to verify connectivity
  5. Click Create Data Source
  6. This data source is now available to your workflows and apps via STRONGLY_SERVICES

See Data Sources for full documentation.

Step 8: Build a Workflow (Optional)​

Workflows are automation pipelines that connect data sources, APIs, AI models, and processing logic.

  1. Click Workflows in the sidebar, then go to Builder
  2. Click Create Workflow and provide a name
  3. Use the STAN AI assistant to describe what you want to build -- STAN will generate the workflow structure, configure nodes, and set up connections for you
  4. Alternatively, use the visual builder to manually add and connect nodes
  5. Configure each node with the required settings (data source connections, API endpoints, model selections)
  6. Save and deploy your workflow from the Builder

See Workflows for full documentation on nodes, triggers, and deployment.

Next Steps​

For Developers​

For Administrators​

Need Help?

Use STAN, the AI assistant available in the sidebar, for guided help with building workflows and navigating the platform. You can also visit the FAQs or contact support@strongly.ai.