Getting Started

Day 1: Get set up

Accounts and access

When you join, you'll get access to:

• GitHub — Added to the fastrepl org. This is where all code, issues, projects, and content live.
• Slack — Our lightweight coordination tool. Introduce yourself, ask questions, don't be shy.
• Infisical — Ask a team member for an invite. We use Infisical to manage environment variables and secrets for development.
• Char admin — Sign in at https://char.com/admin with your authorized email for content management.

Tools setup

Everyone at Char works from the same repo and ships through the same workflow. Whether you're an engineer, designer, or marketer — you'll need most of these tools. Each links to a setup guide that explains what it is, why we use it, and how to install it.

Foundations (Everyone)

• Homebrew — Mac package manager. You'll use this to install almost everything else.
• Warp — Our recommended terminal. This is where you run commands.
• Node.js & pnpm — JavaScript runtime and package manager. Required even if you never write code.
• GitButler — Our git client. Visual interface instead of raw git commands.

Development Tools (Engineers + Technical Roles)

• Cursor — AI-powered code editor. Our primary IDE recommendation.
• Claude Code — AI coding assistant that runs in your terminal.
• Rust — Install via rustup. Required for building the desktop app.
• Taskfile — Task runner we use for dev commands.
• Docker — Required for local Supabase.

Content Tools (Marketers + Content)

• Cursor or any text editor — for editing MDX files
• Git basics via GitButler — for pushing content changes
• Admin access at https://char.com/admin — for media uploads and blog management

Verify the basics are installed:

node --version && pnpm --version && git --version

Developer documentation

We have dedicated developer documentation covering setup, environment variables, running the app, login/auth, and more. Read through it early — it answers most setup questions.

Day 1 checklist

• GitHub org access confirmed
• Slack joined, introduced yourself
• Infisical access confirmed
• Tools installed (work through the list above)
• Read the developer documentation
• Dev environment set up (repo cloned, builds locally)
• Read this handbook — seriously, all of it
• Downloaded a staging build and opened Char

Days 2-3: Get familiar

• Use Char in your own meetings
• Browse GitHub Projects to understand current priorities
• Read through recent PRs to understand what's being worked on
• Make a test PR (fix a typo, improve a doc, anything)

Week 1: Ship something

This is the most important part. Ship something real in your first week. A bug fix, a small feature, a piece of content, a design improvement — it doesn't matter what, as long as it's real and merged.

• Pick a task from GitHub Projects or find something that bugs you
• Ship it via PR
• Get it reviewed and merged

Shipping fast builds momentum and helps you understand the codebase, the review process, and the team. Don't wait until you feel "ready" — you learn by doing.

Week 2: Own something

• Take ownership of a task from the current sprint
• Attend (or listen to recording of) the next planning sync
• Start forming opinions about what should be better

Questions?

Ask in Slack. There are no dumb questions, especially in your first two weeks. If the answer isn't documented, that's a bug — fix it by adding it to the handbook via PR.