Quickstart

Go from zero to a running Matrix computer with a working shell in under ten minutes.

This guide walks you through signing up, choosing a compute plan, completing billing, waiting for your Matrix computer to provision, and then authenticating GitHub and cloning a repository inside the web shell.

Fastest path: paste the setup prompt

If you prefer to hand setup to an agent, paste this prompt into Claude Code, Codex, or another terminal agent after your Matrix computer is provisioned:

Help me finish setting up my Matrix OS cloud computer.

Steps:
1. Install the CLI if it is not already present: npm install -g @finnaai/matrix or brew install finnaai/tap/matrix.
2. Run matrix login --profile cloud and approve the device in the browser tab that opens.
3. Verify with matrix doctor and matrix whoami.
4. Use one persistent session: matrix shell connect -c setup.
5. Authenticate GitHub inside Matrix: matrix run -it --session setup -- gh auth login --hostname github.com --web.
6. For SSH repository access, use a Matrix-managed SSH key created inside the runtime. Register only the public key with GitHub. Do not use local private keys.
7. Clone the repository under ~/projects after I confirm the repo URL.
8. Start my preferred coding agent inside Matrix: matrix run -it --session setup -- claude or matrix run -it --session setup -- codex. Complete that tool's own login in the remote terminal.

Do not scan my local machine for credentials. Do not upload local private keys. Everything authenticates through its own browser/device flow or a Matrix-managed key inside the runtime.

Use Ctrl-\ Ctrl-\ to detach from an attached terminal session without killing the remote process.

Manual setup

Create your account

Go to app.matrix-os.com and sign up with your email or a social provider. Choose your Matrix handle — it becomes your identity across the OS and the Matrix protocol (@handle:matrix-os.com). You do not need a credit card at this step.

Choose compute power and region

After your account is created the onboarding screen presents three plans:

Plan	Machine	vCPU	RAM	Disk	Price
Starter	CPX22	2	4 GB	80 GB	$14/mo
Builder	CPX32	4	8 GB	160 GB	$19/mo
Max	CPX52	12	24 GB	480 GB	$49/mo

Builder is the default selection and suits most developers running a coding agent alongside a dev server. Choose Max if you plan to run parallel agent workers or multiple long-lived processes.

Plan preselect from the pricing page

If you clicked a plan on the matrix-os.com pricing page before signing up, that plan is already highlighted in the picker.

Complete billing

Confirm your plan selection and complete checkout. A 3-day hosted trial period starts after checkout, not at account creation. The onboarding screen shows a payment-settling state briefly while Stripe confirms the subscription — this typically resolves in under a minute.

Pick your developer tools

Before provisioning starts, Matrix asks which coding tools you want pre-installed on your computer. Common choices are Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode. You can add or remove tools later from the terminal.

Wait for provisioning

Matrix provisions your computer in the cloud and gets it ready. The onboarding screen tracks progress through four stages: creating, booting, registering, and finalizing. This usually takes a few minutes.

Do not close the tab

Keep the browser tab open while provisioning runs. If you close it you can return to app.matrix-os.com and the screen picks up where it left off.

Land in the web shell

When provisioning finishes, Matrix opens the web shell. Open a Terminal tab first — it is the primary surface for the next steps. Canvas, files, preview, and Symphony are available from the sidebar once your developer basics are in place.

Authenticate GitHub

Inside the Terminal tab, run the GitHub CLI login flow. Matrix tunnels the browser callback through your runtime, so you never need to paste a token manually:

gh auth login --hostname github.com --web

Follow the prompts. When asked whether to add an SSH key, let Matrix generate a Matrix-managed key inside the runtime. Only the public key leaves the computer — your laptop private key is never involved.

Clone a repository

mkdir -p ~/projects
cd ~/projects
git clone git@github.com:owner/repo.git

Replace owner/repo with your target repository. If the SSH key was registered successfully in the previous step the clone should complete without a password prompt.