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

# Prerequisites

> Set up your account and GCP credentials before using Pragmatiks

Before you can install resources with Pragmatiks, you need:

1. A Pragmatiks account
2. A GCP project with the necessary APIs enabled
3. Credentials configured for GCP access

## Create a Pragmatiks Account

Sign up at [pragmatiks.io](https://pragmatiks.io). You can use Google, GitHub, or email to create your account.

After signing up, verify your account is active:

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
pragma auth login
pragma auth whoami
```

You should see your email address and account details.

## GCP Project Requirements

Pragmatiks provisions resources in your GCP project. You need:

* A GCP project with billing enabled
* Owner or Editor role on the project (or specific IAM roles for the resources you want to use)

### Required APIs

Enable the following APIs in your GCP project:

| API                    | Purpose                     |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------- |
| Cloud Resource Manager | Project metadata            |
| Cloud Storage          | Storage bucket resources    |
| BigQuery               | Dataset and table resources |
| IAM                    | Service account resources   |

Enable them via the console or gcloud:

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
gcloud services enable cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com \
  storage.googleapis.com \
  bigquery.googleapis.com \
  iam.googleapis.com \
  --project=YOUR_PROJECT_ID
```

## Configure GCP Credentials

Pragmatiks needs credentials to manage resources in your GCP project. You have two options:

### Option 1: Application Default Credentials (Recommended)

Use your personal Google account credentials. This is the simplest approach for local development.

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
gcloud auth application-default login
```

This opens a browser window. Sign in with a Google account that has access to your GCP project.

Verify it worked:

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
gcloud auth application-default print-access-token
```

### Option 2: Service Account

For production or CI/CD environments, use a service account key.

1. Create a service account in your GCP project
2. Grant it the necessary roles (e.g., Storage Admin, BigQuery Admin)
3. Download a JSON key file
4. Set the environment variable:

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/service-account-key.json
```

<Warning>
  Keep service account keys secure. Never commit them to version control.
</Warning>

## Verify Your Setup

Run these commands to confirm everything is configured:

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
# Check Pragmatiks authentication
pragma auth whoami

# Check GCP project access
gcloud config get-value project

# Check GCP credentials
gcloud auth application-default print-access-token
```

All three commands should complete without errors.

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Install the CLI" icon="terminal" href="/cli/installation">
    Install the Pragma CLI.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Install your first resource.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>