Chapter 01: Getting Started

The first ten to fifteen minutes in 7DEA matter more than they seem. Early confusion usually does not come from complex governance theory. It comes from not knowing which route to trust first, whether the account is actually entitled for the action you want, or what a specific page expects you to do next. This chapter exists to make that early phase shorter, calmer, and more reliable.

Prerequisites Before You Start

Before you try to create a deliverable, confirm four basics. First, you know whether you are exploring anonymously, signed in without an active commercial state, on an active trial, or on an active paid plan. Second, you have a real deployment description or at least the beginnings of one. Third, you have decided whether Universal alone is enough for the first run or whether a jurisdiction overlay is already necessary. Fourth, you know whether you want to learn by using Start Here, the dashboard, or Aegis directly.

If any of those are unclear, start with Start Here or the lens catalog before you create work. A weak first session often begins with urgency: users jump directly to a creation flow without knowing their own jurisdictions, without identifying the intended users of the system, or without realizing that some controls are locked until a trial or paid state is active. A strong first session begins by narrowing the question and reading the on-screen state carefully.

The product does not require perfect readiness. It does reward minimum viable clarity. The best early inputs usually answer who the system is for, what the AI system does, where it operates, and whether there are obvious regulated or high-risk dimensions. Those four ingredients are enough to move from vague interest to a usable first draft.

Authenticated Startup Walkthrough

/dashboard is a decision surface, not just a navigation stop. The dashboard is where a signed-in user should confirm current commercial state, the fastest next action, and whether any deliverables already exist. Treat the route as the place where you confirm what the system believes about your current state before you take a more expensive or more consequential action. That habit matters throughout 7DEA because the product is explicit about what is available now, what is queued for a later processing window, and what is still gated by entitlement or readiness.

Use it immediately after sign-in, after activating a trial or paid plan, or whenever you feel uncertain about whether the system sees you as entitled for the next step. A good working rule is to pause long enough to read the descriptive text near the top of the page, the current status labels, and any trust-bar language before you click through. Many support tickets disappear when users treat those three signals as product truth instead of assuming the previous page still reflects the current state.

What to read first on /dashboard

Read the page heading, the short explanation under it, the trust bar, and the summary cards for next step and subscription state. On most 7DEA routes the safest scan order is: page heading, the short paragraph that explains what the page does, any state or trust bar indicators, and then the action panels. That reading order tells you whether you are about to create work, inspect work, unlock work, or wait for work that is still in progress.

What to do on this page

Confirm the page says what it is for and that your account appears signed in.
Read the subscription summary or trial summary before assuming any paid capability is active.
Use the next-step card to decide whether you should create a deliverable, review billing, or wait for publication.
Check the first-time checklist if you are new; it is the shortest visible summary of what 7DEA thinks you have already completed.
Only after those steps, open Aegis or move to /deliverables/new.

How context help supports /dashboard

The dashboard help panel usually links back to startup, onboarding, and troubleshooting anchors. Those links are especially useful when the dashboard’s text and your assumptions do not match. Context help is not a second product. It is a route-aware index into this manual. Use it when you want a grounded explanation of the page you are on, the reason a button is locked, or the meaning of a status phrase that looks operational instead of instructional. Context help works best when you read it as an interpretation layer for the live UI, not as a replacement for the UI.

Useful Aegis prompts on /dashboard

Help me get started from this account state.
What should I do next on dashboard?
Explain what my subscription state means here.
I want my first deliverable. What route should I take?

What common states mean on /dashboard

If the dashboard says Subscription active, treat that as confirmation that paid entitlement is live for the account.
If the dashboard emphasizes a trial countdown or upgrade language, expect some export and sharing actions to remain locked.
If there are no deliverables yet, the product is telling you creation, not export, is the right next move.
If the trust bar shows Windowed, creation can still proceed while later publication steps may complete during the next allowed window.

Leave this page when

Leave the dashboard when you know whether your next step is creation, billing, review, or waiting. The dashboard has done its job once the next move is obvious. If you cannot satisfy that exit condition yet, the right move is usually to capture the exact on-screen wording, check the related manual section, and only then escalate. That preserves the trust-first pattern 7DEA is built around: read the state, understand the state, and act in a way that matches the state.

Ask Aegis Startup Prompt

The most reliable first Aegis prompt is still simple: ask for startup help in plain language. On accounts that are entitled for live guidance, this prompt usually activates route-aware onboarding assistance. On explorer accounts it still produces a controlled membership-oriented explanation. Either outcome is useful, because the product is telling you whether you are in a learning state or an active guidance state.

Ask Aegis: "Help me get started."

You can also type:
Help me get started.
What should I do first?

Use this prompt after you have confirmed the route you are on. The best default is the dashboard because the startup prompt becomes more informative when the page already reflects your live account state. If you use the prompt from a public surface, Aegis can still orient you, but it has less route-specific information to work with.

First 15-Minute Quickstart

A strong first session normally fits into fifteen minutes. Minute one to three: sign in or confirm whether you are staying in explorer mode for now. Minute three to five: read the dashboard or Start Here page carefully enough to know your next step. Minute five to eight: review the lens catalog if you are unsure whether Universal alone is sufficient. Minute eight to twelve: create a deliverable or activate trial or paid access if needed. Minute twelve to fifteen: read the resulting draft state, the trust bar, and the next-step instructions instead of immediately trying to export.

This quickstart rhythm matters because it separates orientation, entitlement, and execution. Users who compress those into one rushed motion often misread locked exports as generation failures or interpret exploratory Aegis fallback as a broken assistant. By contrast, users who follow the sequence usually understand the product after the first quarter hour, even if they have not yet completed every step.

Open the app and sign in with email OTP if you want account-scoped work.
Land on /dashboard or /start-here and read the page heading, summary text, and trust bar.
If you want guided help, run the startup prompt in Aegis.
If you are still selecting a framework approach, browse /lens-catalog and keep Universal as the default baseline.
If your account is still exploratory, activate a trial or a paid plan before expecting live Aegis or broader exports.
Create a deliverable using the clearest deployment summary you can provide.
Review the draft and note whether finalization is immediate or waiting for the next processing window.

Route-by-Route Startup Orientation

/start-here is a decision surface, not just a navigation stop. Start Here is the quick orientation runway. It compresses the first deliverable story into a small number of explicit steps. Treat the route as the place where you confirm what the system believes about your current state before you take a more expensive or more consequential action. That habit matters throughout 7DEA because the product is explicit about what is available now, what is queued for a later processing window, and what is still gated by entitlement or readiness.

Use it when you want the shortest explanation of the workflow or when a teammate needs a calm first pass before entering more detailed surfaces. A good working rule is to pause long enough to read the descriptive text near the top of the page, the current status labels, and any trust-bar language before you click through. Many support tickets disappear when users treat those three signals as product truth instead of assuming the previous page still reflects the current state.

What to read first on /start-here

Read the fast-path summary, the trust bar, and the fast path checklist in order. On most 7DEA routes the safest scan order is: page heading, the short paragraph that explains what the page does, any state or trust bar indicators, and then the action panels. That reading order tells you whether you are about to create work, inspect work, unlock work, or wait for work that is still in progress.

What to do on this page

Check whether the checklist begins with sign-in, plans, or direct deliverable creation for your current state.
Use the inline links to move from education to execution instead of guessing which route comes next.
Pay attention to the paragraph that explains Draft versus Final so you do not mistake a normal queued state for an error.
If the lens count or catalog version matters to your decision, use the linked catalog rather than relying on memory.

How context help supports /start-here

The Start Here help panel usually points back to prerequisites, startup orientation, and onboarding. It is one of the fastest ways to see how the manual expects the first session to flow. Context help is not a second product. It is a route-aware index into this manual. Use it when you want a grounded explanation of the page you are on, the reason a button is locked, or the meaning of a status phrase that looks operational instead of instructional. Context help works best when you read it as an interpretation layer for the live UI, not as a replacement for the UI.

Useful Aegis prompts on /start-here

Walk me through the fastest safe first run.
Should I stay on Start Here or move to dashboard?
What do Draft and Final mean here?

What common states mean on /start-here

If the page says Fast path, it is telling you the route is optimized for speed, not for exhaustive reference.
If Start trial or Compare plans appears in the checklist, treat entitlement as the missing prerequisite, not as a side issue.
If the page highlights Draft versus Final language, the product is warning you not to expect immediate export readiness from creation alone.

Leave this page when

Leave Start Here once you know which of these is next: sign-in, billing activation, lens review, or deliverable creation. If you cannot satisfy that exit condition yet, the right move is usually to capture the exact on-screen wording, check the related manual section, and only then escalate. That preserves the trust-first pattern 7DEA is built around: read the state, understand the state, and act in a way that matches the state.

Authentication, Trial Entry, and Commercial Truth

Authentication in 7DEA is intentionally straightforward: email OTP proves control over the mailbox, then the app can load account-scoped content. Commercial truth comes afterward. A signed-in account can still be exploratory, trial, or paid. The product keeps those layers separate because it is more honest and easier to debug. A user should never have to guess whether a missing export button is caused by sign-in, plan state, or deliverable state.

If you are activating a trial, the billing surface explains the verification step and the trial limitations. If you are activating a paid plan, checkout begins on the billing page and continues through Stripe-hosted surfaces. In both cases, return to the dashboard or billing summary afterward and confirm that the visible state has changed before assuming that Aegis or export actions will behave differently.

Common First-Run Mistakes

Trying to optimize lens selection before writing a clear deployment description.
Assuming sign-in alone unlocks every capability.
Treating Draft as a failed Final instead of as the first expected state.
Ignoring the trust bar or checklist and clicking directly into exports too early.
Reading Aegis fallback as a crash when it is actually a commercial invitation path.
Adding too many overlays before establishing a Universal baseline.
Escalating without capturing exact route, wording, and sequence.

Success Criteria for Day One

A successful day-one experience does not require mastering every chapter. It means you can sign in, understand your current commercial state, choose a sensible lens starting point, create or plan a first deliverable, and explain what the next step is. If you can do those things, you have crossed the real threshold from curiosity into productive use.