First-Run Setup
Create your admin account, activate your license, and add your Anthropic API key after installing QAID.
After installing QAID and starting the containers, three steps get you to a working instance: create an admin, activate your license, and add your Anthropic API key.
1. Create the admin account
Open http://localhost (evaluation) or https://your-domain.com (production). On first access QAID prompts you to create the initial administrator account.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| This becomes the super-admin login | |
| Name | Display name |
| Password | Minimum 12 characters with at least one number and one special character |
Click Create admin account. You're logged in as a super admin and taken to the home screen.
This screen only appears once — on the very first visit to a fresh QAID instance. After that, the admin account exists in the database and the setup screen is hidden.
2. Activate your license
Navigate to Admin → License.
You'll see two fields:
| Field | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| License key | Provided when you receive your QAID license |
| License server URL | Already configured via QAID_LICENSE_SERVER_URL in .env if you followed the install guide |
Paste your license key and click Activate. QAID phones home to verify the signature and unlock the features included in your tier.
The license status indicator should turn green and show:
- Your tier (Growth, Professional, or Enterprise)
- Your activation date and expiry
- The features included in your tier
QAID re-verifies your license every 24 hours. If the license server is unreachable, there's a 7-day grace period before features are disabled.
3. Add your Anthropic API key
QAID's AI features (test generation, failure classification, page understanding) run through your own Anthropic account. Get an API key at console.anthropic.com if you don't have one.
In QAID, navigate to Admin → Settings → AI.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Anthropic API key | Starts with sk-ant-... |
Click Save. QAID validates the key with a test call to Anthropic and confirms it works.
You can also set this in .env as ANTHROPIC_API_KEY before starting — the UI is provided so admins can rotate keys without redeploying.
Tip: Set a per-key budget in the Anthropic console (Settings → API Keys → Budgets) so you get alerted before unexpected spend.
4. (Optional) Configure OAuth
If you'd rather users sign in with Google or GitHub instead of email/password:
- Set the OAuth env vars in
.env(see Configuration Reference) - Restart the backend:
docker compose up -d --force-recreate qaid-server - The login page will now show OAuth sign-in buttons
5. Invite your team
Navigate to Admin → Users → Invite.
Enter team members' email addresses and assign roles:
| Role | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Super Admin | Full access including license, billing, and user management |
| Admin | Project + user management within a project |
| Member | Create and run tests, view results |
| Viewer | Read-only |
Invitees receive an email link to set their password and join.
Next steps
You're ready to use QAID. Head to the Quick Start to create your first project and generate tests.