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

# Quickstart

> Connect your first cluster and see telemetry in Obsy in under 10 minutes.

## Before you begin

You need:

* An Obsy account ([sign up free](https://app.obsy.ai/signup))
* A running Kubernetes cluster with `kubectl` access
* A Datadog or Grafana Cloud account (for metrics and traces)

***

## Step 1 — Create your account

Go to [app.obsy.ai/signup](https://app.obsy.ai/signup), fill in your name, email, and a password, then verify your email.

***

## Step 2 — Complete onboarding

After your first login, the onboarding wizard walks you through:

1. **Name your organization** — this becomes the slug for your public status page.
2. **Connect an observability platform** — pick Datadog or Grafana Cloud and paste your API key.
3. **Add your first cluster** — give it a name and paste your `kubeconfig` or use the in-cluster agent.

You can skip steps and come back later from **Clusters** and **Integrations** in the sidebar.

***

## Step 3 — Install the OTel collector

Once your cluster is registered, open it in **OTel Collector**, then click **Install Collector**.

Obsy deploys an OpenTelemetry gateway + node collector via Helm into the `obsy-system` namespace. The process takes about 2 minutes. You'll see a green **Healthy** badge when done.

<Note>
  Your cluster needs outbound internet access on port 443 to reach the Helm chart registry and your observability platform's ingestion endpoint.
</Note>

***

## Step 4 — Send your first trace

Add the OTel SDK to one of your services and point it at the gateway:

```bash theme={null}
# The gateway endpoint (replace with your cluster's internal DNS)
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://obsy-gateway.obsy-system.svc.cluster.local:4317
```

Or set it as an environment variable in your pod spec:

```yaml theme={null}
env:
  - name: OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT
    value: "http://obsy-gateway.obsy-system.svc.cluster.local:4317"
  - name: OTEL_SERVICE_NAME
    value: "my-service"
```

***

## Step 5 — View data in your platform

Head to Datadog or Grafana — your traces, metrics, and logs should appear within a minute.

Back in Obsy, open **Telemetry Review** and select your service to see a quality and cost breakdown.

***

## What's next?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Set up sampling" icon="filter" href="/otel/sampling">
    Reduce cost without losing signal by configuring smart sampling rules.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Route alerts to Obsy" icon="bell" href="/alerts/overview">
    Send Datadog or Grafana alerts to Obsy for automatic RCA and incident creation.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configure incidents" icon="triangle-exclamation" href="/incidents/settings">
    Set up Slack channels, auto-create rules, and notification handles.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Publish your status page" icon="globe" href="/status-page/overview">
    Give your customers a real-time view of your system health.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>