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First login and first project

This guide walks you through first login, workspace creation, establishing the context your content is written in, and a first project. The steps below use the browser; the desktop app follows the same flow after its own first sign-in.

Prerequisites​

You need access to a Bowrain server: a hosted workspace at app.bowrain.cloud or one your team runs. Open your server URL in a browser to begin. (Running your own server? See For developers: self-hosting.)

Logging in​

The web UI redirects you to the identity provider for authentication. On the hosted service that is a managed sign-in; a self-hosted server uses whatever OIDC provider it is configured with, so you may see a username and password form, self-registration, or social sign-in.

After authenticating, you are redirected back to the Bowrain web UI with an active session.

Personal workspace​

After your first login, a personal workspace is created for you. It is named after your display name and is ready to use immediately.

Creating a team workspace​

To collaborate with others, create an additional workspace:

  1. Click the + button in the workspace rail (left edge of the screen)
  2. Enter a Name (for example "My Team"); the slug is derived from it
  3. Adjust the Slug if needed (URL-safe identifier)
  4. Click Create

You are added as the workspace owner and switched to the new workspace.

Establishing the context​

Before any content arrives, give the workspace something to govern it with. Open Context in the sidebar.

  1. Scan what you already publish. A context scan reads pasted copy, public pages, uploaded documents or a public repository, and proposes the axes your content varies along, a voice profile draft, and term candidates, each with the evidence behind it. Nothing it proposes is enforced until you approve it.
  2. Approve the axes. An approved axis such as brand or mode becomes a coordinate the workspace's content can sit at. For a project connected from a checkout, the approval is delivered by kapi pull as an edit to defaults.coordinates in kapi.yaml, for review in git.
  3. Adopt the voice and the terms. Save the edited voice profile at the point it governs, and promote the term candidates you want into concepts. Most workspaces call their default profile brand; a workspace with several audiences carries several profiles.

A thin profile is enough to start. The rules you actually need surface as people correct real output, and every correction feeds the learning loop.

Creating a project​

  1. From the project list, click New Project
  2. Enter the Project name
  3. Select the Source language (for example English)
  4. Optionally select Target languages. A project with none is source-only: runs read it, check it against the context, and write nothing back. Add a language later when you ship in one; it is one more coordinate, not a second project.
  5. Click Create

The project opens in the project view.

Bringing content in​

Content reaches a project through a connector, or by upload:

  1. Drag and drop files onto the upload zone in the project view, or click Add Files to browse. The server detects the format; the format reference lists what it reads.
  2. Or open the project's Connectors view and connect the system the content already lives in, so source flows in and published results flow back.

Files appear in the file list with a format icon, block count, word count and the collection they sit in.

Drafting and checking​

Content that arrived is caught up by a run: start one from the project's Runs view with Run now, or let the project's push policy start one. A run checks the source against the context, drafts any target languages with AI steered by the voice and the terms in force at each point, checks what it produced, and parks what a person has to decide.

To work on one file, open it from the project view. The editor shows the source, the target if there is one, and beside each block the checks, the memory matches and the terms in force. Press Enter on a block to edit it, Enter again to save and advance, Escape to cancel. AI draft in the toolbar drafts a file's targets on demand; Pseudo generates pseudo-translations for layout testing.

Reviewing​

What a run parks lands in the project's review session. Approve, reject or edit each block, or approve everything that passes the checks and the voice bar in one action. Approving the last pending block starts the run that delivers. The per-locale ship state on the dashboard tells you what can go out today.

Publishing and exporting​

Click Export in the editor toolbar to download a file in its original format with its translations applied, or Publish on the project's connector to write approved results back to the system they came from.

Inviting team members​

Invite colleagues to your workspace:

  1. Go to Settings in the sidebar
  2. Open the Invitations section
  3. Enter the email address of the person to invite
  4. Select a role:
    • Admin: manage projects and members
    • Member: contribute and review content
    • Viewer: read-only access
  5. Click Invite

This creates an invite link. Copy it and share it directly, or, if email is configured, the invite is also sent automatically. The invited person signs in or registers and is added to the workspace with the assigned role. Members are never metered, so invite everyone who might notice what a rule missed.

Pending invitations are listed in Settings, where you can see their usage and revoke the ones no longer needed. Per-project roles, bound to a language or a point, are covered in Members and roles.

CLI connection​

Connect kapi to your server for command-line workflows:

kapi auth login    # the hosted service is the default; --server for self-hosted

This starts a device authorization flow:

  1. The CLI displays a URL and a one-time code
  2. Open the URL in your browser
  3. Enter the code to authorize the CLI
  4. The CLI receives a token and stores it in the operating-system keychain

After login, CLI commands authenticate with the server automatically.

Claiming anonymous projects​

If you started with kapi init locally (without a server connection), you can claim that project into your server workspace:

kapi auth claim

This transfers the anonymous local project into your personal workspace on the server, preserving all files and translations.

What's next​

  • Context: the hub, profiles per point, and governance
  • Review: the session, bulk approval, and ship states
  • The editor: Visual and Table views, toolbar, keyboard shortcuts, context panel
  • Walkthroughs: step-by-step workflows