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canonical: https://docs.withwillow.ai/user/getting-started/onboarding
last_updated: 2026-10-03T10:39:06Z
---

# Getting Started

> From your invite email to running your first tool call in under 10 minutes.

From your invite email to running your first tool call in under 10 minutes.

## What You'll Do

1. Accept your invite (1 minute)
2. Sign in and explore (2 minutes)
3. Connect your AI client (5 minutes)
4. Run your first tool (2 minutes)

**Prerequisites**:
- An invite email from your admin
- Access to one of these AI clients: Cursor, Claude Code, VS Code, or Claude Web

## Step 1: Accept Your Invite (1 minute)

You'll receive an email titled "Welcome to Your Secure AI Basecamp."

  

**What to do**:
1. Click the green "Get Started" button
2. Enter your login credentials
3. You'll land on your Willow dashboard

**Success**: You see the dashboard with three "Explore" cards.

  

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## Step 2: Check Your Access (2 minutes)

Look at the **Explore** section. The three numbers tell you what your admin has made available to your account.

**Success**: At least one number is non-zero. If all three show zero, your admin hasn't finished setting up your access. Contact them before continuing. There's nothing to connect to yet.

Take a moment to browse **Discover MCP Servers** to see what you'll be working with. When you're ready, move to Step 3.

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## Step 3: Connect Your AI Client (5 minutes)

Click "Connect MCP" at the bottom of the left sidebar.

A dialog will open.

  

**Choose your AI tool** from the list on the left. The panel on the right fills in with the server URL, a ready-made config block, and the setup steps for that tool.

### For Cursor (one-click setup):
1. Click "Add to Cursor"
2. Cursor will open and auto-configure
3. Restart Cursor

### For other clients:
See [Per-Client Setup Guides](../mcp-servers/per-client/index.md).

**Success**: Your AI client shows the connection is working.

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## Step 4: Run Your First Tool (2 minutes)

In your AI client, ask it:

> "List what tools you have access to"

Your AI will respond with the available tools.

**Success**: You see the list of tools.

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## What Just Happened

You've completed the core Willow flow:

- Authenticated with your organization
- Connected your AI client to Willow
- Made your first tool call

Your admin can now see this in the activity logs.

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## Next Steps

- **[Browse and Enable MCP Servers](../managing-tools/browse-and-enable.md)**: Browse available tools
- **[Create Your First Skill](../creating-content/skills/first-skill.md)**: Build custom AI capabilities
- **[Analytics](../analytics.md)**: See your tool usage, success rates, and response times
- **[Troubleshooting](../reference/troubleshooting.md)**: Something doesn't work?