> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.komodor.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Before you begin

> The access, connections, and tooling you need in place before building or running your first agent.

A few things need to exist in the Komodor Agentic Operation Platform (KAOP) before an agent can do anything useful. This page lists them, says who
can provide each, and tells you which ones you can skip depending on what you plan to do. It takes
a few minutes and saves you hitting a wall halfway through a tutorial.

## Access to a workspace

A **workspace** is your team's isolated space for agents, runs, integrations, and members.
Everything you create belongs to one.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Get your workspace URL">
    Your Komodor contact provides it. It is also the base host for every API example in these
    docs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign in with SSO">
    Authentication goes through your identity provider — there is no separate password. First-time
    access is provisioned as you sign in. See [Signing in](/security-and-governance/identity-and-access/signing-in).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm you have the right role">
    Reading runs, creating agents, and managing access are separate permissions. If a screen or
    action appears locked, your role does not grant it — see [Roles & permissions](/security-and-governance/identity-and-access/roles-permissions).
  </Step>
</Steps>

If you belong to more than one workspace, switch between them from the sidebar.

## At least one connected system

An agent with no access can reason but cannot observe or act. Connect one system before your first
real run — the one whose data you actually want an agent looking at.

| You want an agent to…                 | Connect    |
| ------------------------------------- | ---------- |
| Investigate alerts, metrics, logs     | Datadog    |
| Read or review code and pull requests | GitHub     |
| Answer and post where the team works  | Slack      |
| Look at cloud state and spend         | AWS        |
| Inspect workloads and cluster events  | Kubernetes |

Start with [Integrations overview](/manage-your-agents/build/integrations-overview) to see the
catalog and how a connection becomes tools an agent can use.

<Note>
  Connecting a system usually needs credentials your platform or security team holds. Worth
  requesting before you start, not mid-tutorial.
</Note>

## The SDK — only if you are authoring agents

Two paths through Build, and only one of them needs local tooling:

* **Deploying a Komodor-built agent** — nothing to install. Everything happens in the console.
  See [Use specialized agents](/manage-your-agents/build/use-specialized-agents).
* **Authoring your own agent** — you write a worker in Python or Go and run it against the
  control plane. See [Build from scratch](/manage-your-agents/build/build-from-scratch).

For the Python path:

```bash theme={null}
pip install komodor-agentops
```

Set the workspace host once and the API examples in these docs work as written:

```bash theme={null}
export AGENTOPS_URL=https://<your-workspace-host>
```

## Programmatic access — only if you are automating

Driving KAOP from CI, a script, or your own service needs a credential:

* An **API key** for a person-scoped or automation-scoped token — see [API keys](/security-and-governance/identity-and-access/api-keys).
* A **service account** when the automation should have its own identity rather than borrowing
  yours — see [Service accounts](/security-and-governance/identity-and-access/service-accounts).

## Quick check

You are ready when all of these are true:

* [ ] You can sign in and land on your workspace
* [ ] You know which role you hold
* [ ] At least one system is connected
* [ ] The SDK is installed, if you plan to author agents
* [ ] You hold an API key, if you plan to automate

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Concepts & glossary" href="/get-started/concepts">
    The vocabulary everything else assumes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Build your first agent" href="/manage-your-agents/build/how-it-works">
    Create and run one, end to end.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Onboarding" href="/get-started/onboarding">
    The guided checklist that tracks your setup.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Interfaces" href="/get-started/interfaces">
    Console, API, SDKs, MCP, Slack — and when to use each.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


## Related topics

- [Overview](/get-started/overview.md)
- [Install](/get-started/on-prem/install.md)
- [GitHub Agent](/manage-your-agents/build/catalog/github-agent.md)
- [AWS Infrastructure Investigator](/manage-your-agents/build/catalog/aws-investigator.md)
- [Marketplace](/manage-your-agents/build/marketplace.md)