Onboarding Launch Readiness

Matrix launch onboarding is designed to get a founder or developer to a useful workspace, not just a completed signup form.

The first-run flow teaches what Matrix can do, asks which goal matters first, and then guides the user through only the setup needed for that goal. Coding users are guided through GitHub, project selection, Symphony, terminal context, and optional Claude or Codex. Assistant users are guided through approved calendar, email, and integration capabilities.

Hermes remains the Matrix system agent in every setup state. Claude and Codex can add specialized capabilities, but they do not replace Hermes for Matrix-owned app-building, assistant, integration, and operating workflows.

Launch readiness also includes an admin/control surface for models, agents, integrations, settings, automations, activity, and remediation. The surface uses operational patterns inspired by Finna Cloud while keeping the Matrix visual system from the website redesign.

What The User Gets

Matrix onboarding is goal-based. A user can start by coding, building apps, using Matrix as an assistant, or turning Matrix into a company brain. Each path explains what Matrix can do, shows what is ready, and names the next useful setup step.

For coding, Matrix can guide the user through GitHub connection, project selection, task source selection, Symphony coding runs, terminal context, and handoff summaries. For assistant work, Matrix can guide calendar, email, messaging, and work-update capabilities through explicit approval. For company-brain work, Matrix can capture and reuse product decisions, customer notes, project records, and support context with source display.

Hermes is always available as the Matrix system agent. Users can bring Claude or Codex later, but those credentials upgrade capability rather than replacing Hermes or reprovisioning the workspace.

Admin And Control Surface

The Matrix admin/control surface gives users and operators one place to inspect:

• model and provider status for Hermes, Claude, Codex, and future providers
• integration capability approvals and revoked/missing states
• setup wizard recovery after reload or interruption
• settings save/reload state
• automations, approvals, and recent activity
• readiness remediation for setup gates that still need action

This surface is operational, not a marketing page: dense enough to scan, polished enough for paid beta, and safe enough to avoid exposing provider secrets or raw internal errors.

Operator Launch Gate

Operators use the launch readiness report before enabling paid access:

GET /api/operator/launch-readiness

The report must remain blocked unless every release-critical gate passes. It covers beta release promotion, fresh workspace rehearsal, existing workspace rehearsal, shell routing, onboarding education, visual QA, approved integrations, Hermes continuity, agent execution, coding handoff, company brain, support/growth drafts, admin/control surface, and entitlement behavior.

Payment enforcement is deliberately downstream of this readiness work. This feature defines the gate that says whether Matrix is ready to charge; it does not turn Clerk billing on by itself.

Entitlement Safety

When paid entitlement is missing, expired, disabled, or changed, Matrix must block new paid-only access without deleting or corrupting owner data. Existing owner data remains preserved and exportable. Operators must reconcile access state before restoring paid runtime behavior.

Deferred Scope

The first paid beta does not include broad consumer onboarding, a full public app-store launch, enterprise SSO/RBAC administration, automatic provider-secret migration, or full billing enforcement. Those are separate launch tracks after the founder/developer beta passes readiness.