# Set Up Your Account

The user is required to **Log In** to our **cheqd Studio** portal and then access their API key to authenticate with our APIs. The API key guards the API from unauthorized access and is required for both testing production environments.

## Step 1: Get started with cheqd Studio

Head to our **cheqd Studio** and click **Get Started**.

<table data-card-size="large" data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>cheqd Studio</strong></mark></td><td>Click here to sign up for a cheqd Studio plan to get started with creating API keys. </td><td><a href="https://cheqd.io/solutions/cheqd-studio/">https://cheqd.io/solutions/cheqd-studio/</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

## Step 2: Create your account

cheqd Studio uses a [third party service called LogTo](https://logto.io/) to handle user authentication and login. You can create an account or sign in using:

* Email and password
* Google single sign-on
* Discord login

Click **Sign In** or **Create Account** to continue.

<div align="left"><figure><img src="https://3569764573-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPVAMvpKH7PYzvXA6u6Cn%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-f4800cd62efe5217e6ffda1d67a4f175f3c00b38%2FCredential%20Service%20Sign%20In.png?alt=media" alt="" width="375"><figcaption><p>Sign into your account</p></figcaption></figure> <figure><img src="https://3569764573-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPVAMvpKH7PYzvXA6u6Cn%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-dd6ad1cc972f1e8ae484b2b5e06c11ea4286337e%2FCredential%20Service%20Sign%20up.png?alt=media" alt="" width="375"><figcaption><p>Create a new account</p></figcaption></figure></div>

## Step 3: Create a new API key and authenticate with cheqd Studio APIs

Once signed in, create an API key from your account dashboard.\
This key is required to authenticate with **cheqd Studio APIs** and protects your environment from unauthorized access.

<table data-card-size="large" data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>API keys</strong></mark></td><td>Create a new API key to authenticate with the cheqd Studio APIs.</td><td><a href="api-keys">api-keys</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

## Step 4: Start using cheqd

Get started with our tutorials for cheqd Studio functionality.

<table data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>DIDs and Identity Keys</strong></mark></td><td>Create <code>did:cheqd</code> DIDs for credential issuers and for DID-Linked Resources</td><td><a href="../../studio/dids/create-did">create-did</a></td></tr><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Trust Registries</strong></mark></td><td>Create an end-to-end trusted ecosystem, using Trust Chains to build a full Trust Registry.</td><td><a href="../../studio/trust-registries">trust-registries</a></td></tr><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Payments</strong></mark></td><td>Create commercial models for verifiable credentials, such as verifier-pays-issuer</td><td><a href="../../studio/payments">payments</a></td></tr><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Status Lists</strong></mark></td><td>Create status lists, including Status List v2021 and Token Status List</td><td><a href="../../studio/status-lists">status-lists</a></td></tr><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Credentials</strong></mark></td><td>Issue any type of credential, including SD-JWT, VCDM and AnonCreds via our partners, including trust registries, status lists and payments.</td><td><a href="../../studio/credentials">credentials</a></td></tr><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Resources</strong></mark></td><td>Create custom resources for policies, presentation definitions, schemas and visual representations of credentials</td><td><a href="../../studio/did-linked-resources">did-linked-resources</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

## Step 5: Select a Billing plan

You will be able to get started for free on our free trial, but following the expiry of the free trial, users need to sign up for a paid billing plan. cheqd Studio billing uses [Stripe](https://stripe.com/au) as a payments processor and users will need to input their card information to initiate a billing plan.&#x20;


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.cheqd.io/product/getting-started/studio/set-up-account.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.