Before you start
You’ll need three accounts. If you already have them, just use those.- Cogno — sign up at app.cogno.studio with a team email.
- Claude — claude.ai powers the AI that summarizes your conversations, turns them into tasks, and writes the work. Pro or Max is recommended. (Codex works too — Claude is recommended.)
- GitHub — github.com, where Cogno delivers its work back to you as pull requests.
1. Create your Cogno account
1
Open the app
Go to app.cogno.studio in your browser.
2
Sign up
Create an account with Google, Apple, or email.
3
Share your email (if your team has an onboarding lead)
Share the email address you signed up with, so your team can add you to the right workspace.
2. Set up Claude and GitHub
These two accounts power the automation. If you already have them, use them.- Claude — create an account at claude.ai. It handles summarizing your conversations, turning them into tasks, and writing the implementation. Pro or Max unlocks full auto-implementation. (You can use Codex instead, but Claude is recommended.)
- GitHub — create a free account at github.com. Cogno delivers its work to you as pull requests you review and merge.
3. Install the desktop app
The desktop app runs your Worker — the piece that actually does the work on your machine.1
Download for your OS
Open the download page, choose your operating system, and download the app.
2
Install and sign in
Install it, then log in with your Cogno account.
You’ll install Node.js and Claude Code in the next step — you don’t need them yet.
4. Set up your Worker
The Worker is Cogno’s execution layer: it picks up tasks and runs them. You set it up once.1
Open Your Worker
From your avatar in the bottom-left corner, open Settings, then Your Worker under
Account.
2
Keep it running in the background
Turn on Keep Cogno running in the background so the Worker keeps working even when the
window is closed.
Choose your AI tool (Add-ons)
Add-ons are the heart of the Worker — the AI tool it runs and the helpers that assist it.1
Open Add-ons
From the worker card’s ⋮ menu, open Add-ons.
2
Select Claude Code
Choose Claude Code. When it shows Ready, it’s good to use.
3
Enable the helpers
Turn on GitHub CLI (opens pull requests) and Visual Capture (attaches screenshots of
the result).
You can switch to a different AI tool, such as Codex, at any time.
Ready the environment
The app checks that everything it needs is in place and walks you through anything missing — just follow Set up Worker environment. When every check is green and you see All systems healthy, you’re ready to start.Start the Worker
1
Pick a folder and Start
In the worker card, choose your work folder and press Start (the green button).
2
Tune it if you want
From ⋮, adjust parallelism, polling, no-PR, and dry-run.
5. Run your first task
1
Create a task
Open + Create → New Task, enter a title, and create it. No real task in mind? Try:
Build a Notion-style homepage in Next.js.
2
Assign yourself
From Assign, make yourself the assignee.
6. Review the result
1
See the preview
Cogno writes the code and shows a preview of the result on the task.
2
Check it
Zoom in or download the proposed design to review it.
3
Receive the pull request
When it looks good, take it as a pull request on GitHub — review and merge.
You’re all set
Your accounts are connected, the desktop app is running your Worker against your folder, and your first task just came back as a pull request. From here, Cogno runs on its own — the more tools you connect, the more tasks arrive and resolve without you lifting a finger.What’s next
- Connect integrations — bring in Slack, GitHub, and more so tasks propose themselves.
- Cogno AI: agents & memory — how proposals and Memory shape what the agents do.
- What is Cogno? — the idea behind the loop.