# Quickstart

From zero to a working estimate in about ten minutes.

> Free accounts are open today. Paid tiers, which add certificate
> retirements, are not yet on sale.

## 1. Create an account

Enter your email on the [sign-in page](/login). We send a link that signs
you in and expires in fifteen minutes. No password, no card.

## 2. Tell us how you use AI

The console asks once and routes you to the right path. Which one fits
depends on where your tokens are, and each is set up in the console with
the key already filled in:

- **In your own code**: `npm install @r3ckon/sdk`, wrap your client once,
  done. Best data, since it sees exact cache and reasoning figures. Also
  covers OpenAI-compatible gateways such as OpenRouter.
- **Through an API you call directly**: run
  [anthropic.mjs](/sync/anthropic.mjs) or [openai.mjs](/sync/openai.mjs)
  from cron. Your provider key stays on your machine.
- **Through Google Cloud**: connect a service account scoped to
  `roles/monitoring.viewer`.
- **From an export**: upload a CSV.
- **Through the Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini apps**: those publish no usage
  API, so we [model it from a few questions](/estimate) instead and show you
  how uncertain the answer is. Estimating for a whole organization, seats
  and API spend together, is the [same page's organization mode](/estimate?mode=org).

Why we ask you to run a script rather than take a key, and what each path
costs you in accuracy: [Connecting usage](/docs/connecting-usage).

## 3. Read your figures

Bars rise to P90, the accrual basis, with a shade change at the median and
whiskers spanning the 90 percent range. See
[Reading the console](/docs/console).

## 4. What happens next

Estimation runs as usage arrives, so figures appear without waiting for a
monthly close. Connected sources re-sync daily. On the free tier,
estimation pauses at 10 million billable tokens a month; usage past that is
still recorded and is estimated retroactively if you move to a paid tier.

Paid tiers add the monthly close: the period's obligation accrues at P90,
whole units are retired, and a certificate is issued. See
[Billing](/docs/billing).

## If something looks wrong

- A connection showing `error` displays the provider's message in the
  console; re-adding with the same label rotates the credential.
- Re-running a sync window restates it rather than doubling it, so a missed
  day is fixed by running again with a wider window.
- Estimation never blocks your AI usage: we hold no position in your
  traffic, so a lapsed sync affects your ledger, never your tools.