> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.release.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.release.com/getting-started/quickstart.md).

# Quickstart

Here's a step-by-step guide to adopting Release in your organization. Start with the Release Cloud Sandbox

1. Create a Release account.
2. Play around with the Release Sandbox
3. Choose a Starter Repo or Custom Application

Release Enterprise Quick Start

1. Integrate your cloud provider.
2. Link a domain.
3. Create a cluster.
4. Connect your source control provider.
5. Create your application.

## Step 1: Create a Release account

Visit <https://release.com/signup> and sign up using your email address or a single sign-on provider.

Take a look at our [Create an Account](/getting-started/create-an-account.md) documentation if you need more information about this step.

## Step 2: Play around with the free Release Cloud Sandbox

When you first signup for Release you are in the Release Cloud and using a Sandbox account which includes 5 free hours of environment time. This is to help you get a feel for the features in Release.

## Step 3: Try a Starter Repo or Custom Application

<figure><img src="https://585411240-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M1neGLLQ0sDXeK6ooSo%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-ce182a56fa96c4e75362cec12fb17882ec39afe0%2FScreenshot%202025-05-18%20at%209.44.15%E2%80%AFAM.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

There are two ways to try Release. If you just want to see how Release works, start with one of our Starter Repos. The Starter Repos have been setup ahead of time to work out of the box with Release. You just fork the repo and follow the guided setup. This generally takes a few minutes and is the easiest way to get familiar with Release. You can also start with a Custom Application. When you go down this path, you bring code from your own code repositories (Github, Bitbucket or Gitlab). If you just want to see the features in Release, start with a Starter Repo. If you want to bring up your own applications start with Custom Application. We recommend starting with a Starter Repo. You can always bring your own code at anytime once you are familiar with Release.

## Step 4: Upgrade to Release Cloud or Enterprise

Once your 5 free hours has expired you can upgrade to our paid Release Cloud plan which runs on our infrastructure in the Release Cloud or upgrade to Enterprise which allows you to run your environments in your cloud account.

<figure><img src="https://585411240-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M1neGLLQ0sDXeK6ooSo%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-7ad9bc113d503807636001c1a73106d624aa7a21%2FScreenshot%202025-05-18%20at%2010.00.28%E2%80%AFAM.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Release Enterprise Quick Start

If you're on the Release Enterprise paid plan, integrate Release with your cloud provider.

In Account Settings, navigate to **Clusters**, and press **Create new cloud provider integration**. Currently, we support AWS and GCP.

![Create new cloud provider integration](https://585411240-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M1neGLLQ0sDXeK6ooSo%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-204870004be82480616b4f525aa5bc74f389c114%2Fcloud-provider-integration.png?alt=media)

When prompted to log in to your cloud provider, you should use an account with enough privileges to create and destroy clusters, manage permissions, manage DNS settings, and other provider-specific functionality that Release will need to function.

Take a look at the following docs for more help with integrating your cloud provider:

* [AWS Integration](/integrations/integrations-overview/aws-integration.md)
* [GCP Integration](/integrations/integrations-overview/gcp-integration.md)

## Link your domain

If you don't already have a domain, you should register one through your cloud provider (for example, Route53 if you're using AWS).

You can also use a domain registered through a third-party provider such as GoDaddy (follow our [external DNS](/guides-and-examples/domains-and-dns/external-dns.md) guide), but it's easier if you use your cloud provider directly.

To link your domain to Release, go to **Settings** -> **Domains** -> **Create new domain**.

Enter your domain and take note of the nameservers that Release will display. If you're using a third-party domain provider, configure your domain to point to these name servers.

Finally, verify your domain by pressing the **Verify** button.

## Create a cluster

Once you have a linked and verified domain, you can create your first cluster. Navigate to **Settings** -> **Clusters** and choose **Create new cluster** under your cloud provider.

![Create new cluster](https://585411240-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M1neGLLQ0sDXeK6ooSo%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-765c9a418f0963dfc48d660c12576b2e444feb77%2Fonboarding-create-cluster.png?alt=media)

For more help with this, see [Create a cluster](/guides-and-examples/advanced-guides/create-a-cluster.md).

## Connect your source control provider

Release will pull code from your source control provider (such as GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket) to deploy your application.

You may have integrated a source provider account when you signed up for Release using SSO, but you can further [configure your source control provider](/integrations/source-control-integrations.md) to give Release access to the correct repositories and edit other settings, like whether Release automatically comments on your pull requests.

To get started, click on your profile picture in Release, then on **Manage Profile**.

You can connect GitHub, Bitbucket, or GitLab.

![Source Control Settings](https://585411240-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M1neGLLQ0sDXeK6ooSo%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-05e1545a9c570bf395fcfc79cf9cd134b59a7eca%2Fsource-control-settings.png?alt=media)

If you're connecting GitHub, you'll be given the option to grant Release access to all of your repositories or only specific repositories.

Once you've created the connection, you'll be able to view your repositories when creating a new app from Release and select the one that you want to deploy using Release.

## Create and deploy an application

To test that everything works, you can deploy one of our [ready-to-go example applications](/guides-and-examples/common-setup-examples.md).

Select an example application and fork it to your integrated source control account. Then press **Create new app** from your Release dashboard and choose the repository you forked.

![New Application](https://585411240-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M1neGLLQ0sDXeK6ooSo%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-b601eb092949d08ca11eca56957845c15c101e5a%2Fapplication-new.png?alt=media)

![Create new app](https://585411240-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M1neGLLQ0sDXeK6ooSo%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-65b424a632ea22b6a6551feaec327530ea3d1349%2Fcreate-new-app-step-1.png?alt=media)

![Analyze Repository](https://585411240-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M1neGLLQ0sDXeK6ooSo%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-0fd0e4f9bf6b820f623f615ab980a850fa1dc7e5%2Fanalyse-step-2.png?alt=media)

![Generate Template](https://585411240-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M1neGLLQ0sDXeK6ooSo%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-329a04f55e9e7686f87279e5662927e9fa8e39d4%2Fgenerate-template.png?alt=media)

## Where to next

Now you can configure and monitor your applications through your Release dashboard. If necessary, you can still access your AWS account and Kubernetes cluster directly, but for most use cases, you can enjoy our simplified controls and sensible defaults.

To get the most out of Release, you should:

* Prepare your applications for use with Release. See [Prepare to use Release](/getting-started/prepare-to-use-release.md).
* Understand the [Application Template file](/reference-documentation/application-settings/application-template.md) that lets you configure most aspects of Release.
* Read our [Application guide](/guides-and-examples/advanced-guides/application.md) to understand the details of how Release works.


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