Quickstart for end users

If your team or organization already runs a Confabulous instance — or you’re using the managed instance at confabulous.dev — this is the only page you need.

Setting up the instance itself is a separate job; see the Quickstart for admins if you’re the one running it.

1. Sign in to the web dashboard

Open your team’s Confabulous URL in a browser and sign in. The URL depends on how your team has Confabulous set up:

• Managed instance: confabulous.dev
• Self-hosted instance: ask your admin — typically something like https://confab.your-company.com

2. Install the CLI

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ConfabulousDev/confab/main/install.sh | bash

3. Connect the CLI to your instance

Run confab setup and pass the same backend URL you used to sign in:

confab setup --backend-url https://confabulous.dev

Or for a self-hosted instance:

confab setup --backend-url https://confab.your-company.com

The setup flow opens a browser tab to authorize the CLI against your account, then stores an API token in ~/.confab/ and wires up real-time sync plus the /retro skill for every supported provider CLI (claude, codex, opencode) detected on your PATH.

4. Start a session

Start any Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode session. The CLI streams transcripts to your backend in real time — open your dashboard and you’ll see the session appear and update live as you work.

What’s next

• First sync — what to expect on your first uploads.
• CLI overview — subcommands, config, and troubleshooting.
• Concepts — sessions, providers, recaps.