Quick start

Before you begin

You need two things in place before Sightdeck AI can do anything useful:

• A coding agent installed and signed in on your Mac — Claude Code, Codex (beta), or both. Sightdeck AI coordinates your agent; it does not include one.
• A Mac running macOS, Apple Silicon or Intel. (The desktop app is macOS-only for now.)

Step 1 — Install the desktop app

Download the app from the download section on the homepage. Pick the build that matches your Mac (Apple Silicon or Intel), open the .dmg, and drag Sightdeck AI into your Applications folder.

1. Launch Sightdeck AI from Applications. The first screen is Welcome to Sightdeck AI, with three numbered setup steps under it.
2. macOS may ask permission to open a downloaded app — click Open in the dialog.

Step 2 — Add a provider

A provider is the agent your tasks run on, plus the command that starts it.

1. In the setup steps, click Add provider. Settings → Providers opens.
2. Click Add profile, pick Claude or Codex (beta) as the Provider, give it a label and a colour. Leave the command empty to use the one on your PATH.
3. Click Test — the status should read Available.
4. Codex only: open the Terminals tab and switch on Danger Full Access. Codex has no step-by-step permission prompt, so Sightdeck refuses to start a Codex task without it. Read Full access first.

Step 3 — Install the skill

The Sightdeck AI skill connects the agent to the app. It keeps every task's status in sync so you always see the real state of what the agent is doing.

1. On the provider's Configuration tab, click Install skill. It is copied into that provider's own folder.
2. The line turns to up to date. Repeat this for every provider profile you add.
3. From then on, every session of that provider in a Sightdeck AI project runs through the skill — no further setup per project.

Step 4 — Activate your license

Without a license the app runs in trial mode with a limited number of free tasks. A license unlocks unlimited tasks.

1. Click the License icon at the bottom of the sidebar (or the Trial badge).
2. Paste the license key you received by email after purchase and click Activate.
3. The window shows License active. The key is checked on your Mac — no connection needed.

If you have not bought a license yet, the pricing section has the details.

Step 5 — Add a project and run your first task

A project in Sightdeck AI is the folder on your Mac where your code lives. Point Sightdeck AI at that folder, drop an idea into the backlog, and start it.

1. Click Open Project on the welcome screen and pick the folder — or drop a project folder onto the window. Sightdeck AI sets up the rest.
2. The project gets a prefix derived from the folder name — a label added to the front of every task number, like SD-1 or MY-42. You can change it later in the project settings.
3. The project starts on your first provider. Its name shows in the sidebar next to the project.
4. Click the field at the top of the backlog (New task — type, or paste a Jira URL…) and type a task — one sentence is enough. Hit Enter.
5. Sightdeck AI refines the task in the background: title, summary, Type, time estimate and Story Points. The card shows a Refining… pill while this runs.
6. Once the pill clears, hover the task and click Start. The agent starts in your project folder and the card moves to In Progress. The session runs inside Sightdeck — open Agents to watch it, or press Cmd/Ctrl + ` for the terminal dock under the project.
7. When the agent finishes, the task moves to Done in green.

That is the full loop. For a deeper look at what each status means and how to handle parallel tasks, read Status lifecycle next.