# Documentation

## Everything you need to know

### Get Started

From sign-up to a running OpenClaw instance in under 5 minutes.

01

**Sign up**  
Create your account and choose a plan. You’ll receive a one-time password (OTP) by email — enter it to verify and continue.

02

**Name your instance**  
Give your OpenClaw instance a name — just a label so you can identify it in your dashboard.

03

**Connect a provider**  
Add your API key from any supported provider — OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Groq, and more. Your key stays on your VM. We never see it.

04

**We spin up your VM**  
Your private virtual machine is provisioned, OpenClaw is installed, and everything is configured automatically. Takes around 3 minutes.

✓

**You’re live**  
Your OpenClaw instance is running and ready. Open your dashboard, create your first agent, and start building.