KeelenGetting started
How do I get my first reviewable result in Keelen?
Updated 29 September 2026
Start with account access, connect a supported AI engine in Keelen's dashboard and approve GitHub access in your browser. Create or import a project, then check whether a first Request exists and submit one if it does not. Follow any billing and provisioning instructions before expecting work to run. Then inspect the resulting pull request and its checks, or read the project status and any blocking decision. Completion depends on the task and the available capacity.
Billing and provisioning are conditional stages, and a project can submit its initial Request before either one finishes. Treat the list below as a checklist rather than an uninterrupted sequence.
What to do, in order
Access your account
Sign in or create an account and complete the verification step. Keelen's MCP flow emails a short code to the address you supply and you read it from your inbox. Keep the code to yourself.
Connect an AI engine
Open the dashboard and follow the form for a supported subscription or API key. Keelen connects the engine from the dashboard rather than from chat, so keep provider credentials out of any conversation. Recheck the setup status until the engine connection is recorded.
Approve GitHub access
Open the approval link in a browser, select the GitHub account or organization that owns the repository and continue. Approval happens in the browser. When Keelen reports the connection, the workspace can see the repositories you granted.
Choose a project
Import a repository the connection can already see, or create a new repository from a short description. Supply the project details the form asks for, including the project kind when the form requests it.
Resolve billing if required
Billing can be required before the loop runs. Use the browser checkout only when Keelen offers one. A failed payment on an existing subscription means updating that subscription in the dashboard, not starting a second one. A project created with its loop off still needs the loop enabled after billing is resolved.
Follow provisioning
Wait for the setup result. If provisioning reports a repair instruction, follow it and retry through the project page. Setup readiness means the project is ready to work. It does not mean a pull request exists.
Confirm the first Request
Describe a bounded change and the acceptance criteria that show it is done. The project description may already have become the initial Request, so check for an existing Request before submitting another. Submit one when none exists.
Inspect the result or blocker
Inspect the task criteria, the pull request diff and the checks that actually ran. When progress stops, read the project status and the Needs you queue. A project in branch only mode pushes a branch and opens no pull request.
Billing and provisioning are conditional stages
Billing and provisioning can appear between project creation and the first result, so read the list above as a checklist rather than a single line. Project creation can submit the initial Request before either stage finishes. A project created while its loop is off needs the loop enabled after billing resolves, and a setup that reports an error needs its repair instruction followed before the retry.
Controls for accepting the first result
Accept the first result the way that matches your confidence. Manual merge is the setting that leaves the merge click to you, and it is a reasonable choice for the first result on a repository that matters. Plan review is a separate setting that puts a human decision in front of the first code. The non technical review role and the developer review role are independent requirements, so a project can require either role or both, and both off means no plan review gate. These choices are separate from the three merge policies.
Set up from an assistant if that is easier
Keelen has a hosted MCP server that can guide the setup from an assistant. The assistant can walk signup, repository setup and the first Request, and it reads status for you. Engine credentials still connect in the Keelen dashboard and GitHub approval still happens in the browser.
When Keelen is not the answer
- Your repository or engine authorization is unavailable. No setup step can produce a reviewable result without access to the repository and a connected engine, so resolve the authorization first.
- You need guaranteed completion or a fixed deadline. Completion depends on the task, the setup, the available capacity, provider limits and decisions that need you.
Hand the work to a loop
Connect a repository, write what you want in plain language, and review the tested pull requests that come back.
FAQ
Do I need the dashboard to finish setup?
Yes for the steps that need your browser. Engine credentials connect in the Keelen dashboard and GitHub approval happens through a browser link. An assistant can guide the flow, but Keelen does not ask for your provider credential in chat, and the assistant cannot approve the GitHub install for you.
What if my project already has a Request?
The build description you supplied when the project was created may already have become the initial Request. Check the roadmap and the Request list before submitting another, and add a new Request only when the project has none.
Why is there no pull request yet?
Setup readiness is not the same as finished work. Provisioning confirms the project is ready to run. A task still needs to be expanded, picked and completed, and branch only mode never opens a pull request at all. Read the project status and the Needs you queue when progress stops.
Does billing arrive before the first result?
Billing can be required before the loop runs, and it can be required after a project already exists. Use browser checkout only when Keelen offers one. If a payment fails on an existing subscription, update that subscription in the dashboard rather than starting a second one.