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

# Create an Account

> Sign up for Cognee Cloud and generate your first API key

You can sign up with a social provider (no password to manage) or with an email address and password.

<Info>
  Cognee Cloud supports **Google** and **GitHub** sign-in, as well as **email + password**.
</Info>

## Sign up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the console">
    Go to [platform.cognee.ai](https://platform.cognee.ai/) and choose **Sign up with Google**, **Sign up with GitHub**, or enter an **email** and **password** (at least 8 characters, confirmed).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Authorize or verify">
    For a social provider, approve the OAuth prompt — Cognee uses the provider for identity only. For email + password, check your inbox and click the verification link to confirm your address.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Account created">
    Your account is created and ready to use.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Email verification

When you sign up with email and password, you must verify your email before signing in:

1. After registering, you are prompted to **verify your email** and a verification message is sent to your address.
2. Clicking the link confirms your address and takes you to an **Email verified!** confirmation page (*Your account is ready. Sign in to get started.*).
3. Select **Sign in** to return to the login page, where a **Your email has been verified. You can now sign in.** notice confirms the address is active.

## Generate an API key

API keys authenticate requests from the [Cloud SDK](/cognee-cloud/connections/cloud-sdk), the [REST API](/api-reference/introduction), and [agent connections](/cognee-cloud/ui/integrations).

1. In the sidebar, open **API Keys**.
2. Click **Create API key**.
3. Copy the key and store it securely. It is shown only once.

<Warning>
  Treat API keys like passwords. Do not commit them to version control. Use environment variables (`COGNEE_API_KEY`) instead.
</Warning>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Onboarding walkthrough" href="/cognee-cloud/quickstart" icon="play">
    Upload your first file, build a knowledge graph, and run a search.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cloud SDK" href="/cognee-cloud/connections/cloud-sdk" icon="terminal">
    Interact with Cognee Cloud programmatically using the Python SDK.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>