First-run setup

The first time you open Coldtea, you sign in and pick a project.

Create your account

Coldtea signs you in with a Google desktop sign-in. The screen reads "Create your account"; the "Continue" button opens the Google flow in your browser and returns you to the app when it completes.

You can step back to the welcome screen from here. There is no skip: Coldtea needs an account for TeaHouses, tasks, and integrations.

Setting up account

For a brand-new account, Coldtea shows "Setting up account" while it creates your first TeaHouse. A TeaHouse is the team boundary in Coldtea, where humans and agents ship together, and it holds your tasks, integrations, and Matcha testing.

You can rename it, add a website, or create more TeaHouses later in Settings → TeaHouse. For what a TeaHouse holds, see TeaHouses.

If setup does not finish, the screen offers a "Retry" button. Signing in again on an account that already exists takes you straight to the app.

Pick a project

Choose "Open Project" to select an existing folder, or "New Project" to start fresh. A project is a local Git repository, and it sets the working directory for your terminal panes and agents.

Once a project is open, you are done. Next: Terminal for the main surfaces.

Everything else, when you need it

• GitHub lets your agents work in the cloud and draft pull requests. No pull request is merged without your explicit approval. Connect it from Settings → Integrations, or from the prompt Coldtea shows the first time a project needs it. See GitHub.
• Cloud agent credentials decide how your cloud agents sign in: a provider API key, or your Claude or ChatGPT subscription. Cloud runs use claude, codex, and opencode; OpenCode connects through its own flow rather than a pasted key. See cloud agent credentials.

To set up a specific local CLI, see Claude, Codex, Gemini, or OpenCode.