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

# Quickstart Guide

> Get started with StatusStack in under 5 minutes

## Welcome to StatusStack!

This guide will walk you through creating your first Stack and monitoring your services in just a few minutes.

***

## Step 1: Create Your Account

1. Visit [statusstack.com/register](https://statusstack.com/register)

2. Sign up using:
   * **Google OAuth**
   * **Microsoft OAuth**
   * **Email/Password**

3. Complete email verification if using email/password signup

***

## Step 2: Access Your Dashboard

After signing in, you'll be redirected to your customer dashboard at:

```
https://statusstack.com/dashboard/{your-org-slug}/
```

**First-Time Setup**: You'll see the onboarding wizard to help you get started. You can skip this and follow the manual steps below if preferred.

***

## Step 3: Create Your First Stack

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Stacks">
    Click **Monitoring** → **Stacks** in the left sidebar
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start Creation">
    Click the **"Create Stack"** button in the top-right
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter Stack Details">
    Fill in the form:

    * **Name**: `Production Infrastructure` (or your preferred name)
    * **Description**: `Monitoring for production services` (optional)
    * **Team**: Select your team from the dropdown
    * **Visibility**: Choose **Public** to share, or **Private** for team-only access
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save Stack">
    Click **Create** to save your Stack
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  **Stack Created!** You now have an empty Stack ready to monitor services.
</Note>

***

## Step 4: Add Services to Your Stack

Now let's add some services to monitor:

### Option A: Add Third-Party Services

Monitor popular services like AWS, Cloudflare, GitHub, etc.:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Your Stack">
    Click on your newly created Stack to open it
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add Component">
    Click **"Add Component"** in the components section
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a Source">
    Browse or search for a service:

    * **AWS** - Amazon Web Services
    * **Cloudflare** - CDN and DNS
    * **GitHub** - Code hosting
    * **Stripe** - Payment processing
    * And 5,200+ more sources available...
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Components">
    Choose which components of that service to monitor (e.g., for AWS, select EC2, S3, Lambda, etc.)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm">
    Click **Add to Stack** to start monitoring
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Option B: Add Your Own Website

Monitor your custom websites and APIs:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Monitors">
    Go to **Monitoring** → **Website Monitors** in the sidebar
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create Monitor">
    Click **"Create Monitor"** button
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure Monitor">
    Fill in the details:

    ```
    Name: My API Health Check
    URL: https://api.yoursite.com/health
    Check Interval: 60 seconds
    Alert Threshold: 3 failures
    Timeout: 10 seconds
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add to Stack">
    Select which Stack to add this monitor to, then click **Create**
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Step 5: View Stack Status

Return to your Stack to see the monitoring status:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Overall Status" icon="signal">
    Your Stack shows a color-coded status based on all components:

    * 🟢 **Operational** - All services healthy
    * 🟡 **Degraded** - Some issues detected
    * 🔴 **Critical** - Major outages
    * 🔵 **Maintenance** - Scheduled maintenance
  </Card>

  <Card title="Component Details" icon="list">
    Each component shows:

    * Current status
    * Last updated timestamp
    * Status history
    * Uptime percentage
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## Step 6: Set Up Notifications

Get alerted when service status changes:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Notifications">
    Go to **Settings** → **Notifications** in the sidebar
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create Notification Rule">
    Click **"Create Notification Rule"** button
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Channels">
    Choose where to receive alerts:

    * ✉️ **Email** - Instant email notifications
    * 💬 **Slack** - Post to Slack channel
    * 🎮 **Discord** - Discord webhook integration
    * 📧 **Microsoft Teams** - Teams channel notifications
    * 📱 **SMS** - Text message alerts (via Twilio)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure Conditions">
    Set when to get notified:

    * **Alert Levels**: Info, Warning, Alert
    * **Stacks**: Which Stacks to monitor
    * **Components**: Specific components (optional)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save Rule">
    Click **Create** to activate notifications
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Example: Slack Notification Setup

1. Create a Slack webhook in your workspace
2. Copy the webhook URL
3. Paste it into the "Slack Webhook URL" field
4. Select alert levels and Stacks to monitor
5. Save the notification rule

***

## What's Next?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Customer Dashboard Guide" icon="gauge" href="/guides/customer-dashboard">
    Learn all dashboard features and keyboard shortcuts
  </Card>

  <Card title="MSP Setup" icon="building" href="/guides/msp-setup">
    Set up multi-client monitoring for your MSP
  </Card>

  <Card title="Stack Concepts" icon="layer-group" href="/concepts/stacks">
    Deep dive into Stack organization patterns
  </Card>

  <Card title="Notification Setup" icon="bell" href="/concepts/notifications">
    Advanced notification configuration
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## Common Next Steps

### Organize Multiple Environments

Create separate Stacks for different environments:

```
📦 Production Stack
  ├─ Production API
  ├─ Production Database
  └─ Production CDN

📦 Staging Stack
  ├─ Staging API
  └─ Staging Database

📦 Development Stack
  └─ Dev Services
```

### Invite Team Members

1. Go to **Settings** → **Teams**
2. Click **"Invite Member"**
3. Enter their email and assign a role:
   * **Admin** - Full access including billing
   * **Member** - Can create/edit Stacks and monitors
   * **Viewer** - Read-only access

### Configure Custom Monitors

For more advanced monitoring:

* Set custom HTTP headers for authenticated endpoints
* Configure expected status codes (200, 201, etc.)
* Enable SSL certificate expiry monitoring
* Set up alert thresholds to reduce noise

***

## Getting Help

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Documentation" icon="book" href="/">
    Browse all documentation
  </Card>

  <Card title="Support" icon="headset" href="mailto:support@statusstack.com">
    Email our support team
  </Card>

  <Card title="Community" icon="users" href="https://statusstack.com/community">
    Join our community forum
  </Card>

  <Card title="Status Page" icon="chart-line" href="https://status.statusstack.com">
    Check StatusStack's own status
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## Quick Reference

### Dashboard Keyboard Shortcuts

| Shortcut       | Action                     |
| -------------- | -------------------------- |
| `Cmd/Ctrl + K` | Open global search         |
| `G then D`     | Go to Dashboard            |
| `G then S`     | Go to Stacks               |
| `G then N`     | Go to Notifications        |
| `N`            | Create new (context-aware) |

### Stack Status Hierarchy

The Stack's overall status uses the **worst status** of any component:

```javascript theme={null}
if (any_component === 'outage') return 'CRITICAL'
if (any_component === 'degraded') return 'DEGRADED'
if (any_component === 'maintenance') return 'MAINTENANCE'
return 'OPERATIONAL'
```

***

**Congratulations!** 🎉 You've set up your first Stack and are now monitoring your services with StatusStack. Explore the dashboard to discover more features!