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

# Quickstart

> Create your first SeaOtter agent and see it running in under five minutes.

<div className="flex flex-col items-center gap-4 text-center not-prose mb-10">
  <img src="https://seaotter.dev/brand/sea-otter-logo-light.png" alt="SeaOtter" className="h-20 w-auto dark:hidden" />

  <img src="https://seaotter.dev/brand/sea-otter-logo-dark.png" alt="SeaOtter" className="hidden h-20 w-auto dark:block" />

  <h1 className="text-4xl font-semibold tracking-tight">SeaOtter</h1>

  <p className="max-w-xl text-lg text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-300">
    Managed control plane for Hermes Agent — provision, pause, and operate agents on Google Cloud.
  </p>
</div>

SeaOtter is a managed control plane for Hermes Agent. This guide gets you from zero to a provisioning agent with a real API key.

## 1. Sign up and create an API key

1. Create an account at [seaotter.dev](https://seaotter.dev).
2. Open **Settings → API keys** (org admin required).
3. Create a key and copy the secret once. It looks like `so_…`.

Store it in your shell (never commit it):

```bash theme={null}
export SEAOTTER_API_KEY='so_…'
export SEAOTTER_API='https://seaotter-api-bpenevambq-uc.a.run.app'
```

## 2. List agents

```bash theme={null}
curl -sS "$SEAOTTER_API/api/v1/agents" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SEAOTTER_API_KEY" | jq .
```

## 3. Create an agent

```bash theme={null}
curl -sS -X POST "$SEAOTTER_API/api/v1/agents" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SEAOTTER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"first-hermes","resource_plan":"starter"}' | jq .
```

You get a `201` with `status: "provisioning"` almost immediately. Provision continues asynchronously.

## 4. Poll provisioning stages

```bash theme={null}
AGENT_ID='<id from create response>'

while true; do
  curl -sS "$SEAOTTER_API/api/v1/agents/$AGENT_ID" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $SEAOTTER_API_KEY" \
    | jq '{status, stages: .config.provisioning_stages}'
  sleep 3
done
```

Stages run in fixed order until `wizard_reachable` is `ok` and `status` becomes `running`. See [Provisioning lifecycle](/guides/provisioning-lifecycle) for status meanings.

## Next

* [Authentication](/authentication) — API keys vs Clerk JWTs
* [API reference](/api-reference) — interactive try-it against production
* [Upstream Hermes docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs) — tenant runtime, not the control plane