# Quickstart

> Adopt work you already have, inspect what follows, and continue the same agent in another harness.

The shortest useful Tally loop is local and account-free: adopt existing work,
inspect the carried understanding, and continue it under another harness.

## 1. Open Tally

After [installing Tally](/docs/tally/install/), run it with no subcommand:

```sh
tally
```

On a fresh machine this creates the internal owner identity silently, checks
installed harnesses, and opens the TUI. It does not require signup, and it does
not print a recovery phrase into your terminal history.

## 2. Adopt the agent you already use

First run leads with sessions Tally can discover. Today discovery/adoption is
implemented for **Codex**; Claude Code and Pi discovery are next. Select a real
session, inspect its task/workspace/source preview, give the durable agent a
name, and accept.

The CLI equivalent is:

```sh
tally adopt --from codex
```

Adoption reads the native source without modifying it, creates a named agent
atomically, and records the captured understanding in that agent's encrypted
log. It carries task, plan, relevant files, repository hints, provenance, and
any agent character/memory that actually exists. It does not claim to copy a
verbatim cross-harness transcript or hidden model state.

## 3. Inspect what follows

Open the adopted agent. Its page has five sections:

- **Overview**: current work, next steps, and last continuation.
- **Understanding**: character, memory, task, plan, acceptance, and relevant files.
- **Continuations**: the branch ledger.
- **Sources**: native-session provenance, encrypted-log provenance, and exact captured context.
- **Settings**: protection, relay status, self documents, and advanced lifecycle commands.

Missing fields collapse. Tally does not manufacture a decision, plan, or memory
that the persisted sources do not contain.

## 4. Continue under another harness

Press `c`. Remembered harness/model defaults are filled in, but nothing launches
yet. The sheet shows:

- the exact continuation sequence and workspace;
- which model provider receives the outbound context;
- that the Tally relay receives none of that context;
- what will be written before launch and captured after exit;
- the exact equivalent `tally continue` command.

Press `p` to inspect the full outbound text, `w` to choose another existing
workspace, or `h` / `m` to change harness/model. Enter launches only after the
preview exists. The previewed sequence and workspace are frozen into execution,
so "latest" cannot drift after you approve it.

The CLI equivalent is explicit:

```sh
tally continue vision --harness pi --model openai-codex/gpt-5.5
```

On exit, Tally captures the new understanding as a child continuation. A direct
TUI launch then shows a result sheet backed by the newly persisted event; memory
reflection is reported separately when it is still pending.

## 5. Save the recovery key

After the agent has value, save its independent recovery phrase:

```sh
tally backup vision
```

The key restores identity and decrypts **surviving encrypted copies**. It is not
itself a copy of the agent's continuation log. Keep at least one device or other
durable encrypted copy of that log.

## 6. Connect and sync when you want it

Everything above works locally. Hosted signup is optional and comes after local
value:

```sh
tally init --email you@example.com
```

`push` and `pull` move encrypted log deltas. The relay cannot read agent content,
but sync is not durable backup: hosted catch-up is bounded and your devices remain
the durable holders. Named agents have independent keys and relay state; follow
[Multi-device sync](/docs/tally/guides/multi-device-sync/) rather than copying a
base-home recipe blindly.

## 7. Use the advanced surfaces only when needed

```sh
# noninteractive continuation with a task
tally run vision --harness codex --model gpt-5.5 "explain the failing test"

# setup and integrity checks
tally doctor vision

# private MLS coordination
tally channel create pronoic/dev/coord
```

The command palette keeps backup, doctor, adapters, sync, signup, and rooms out
of the primary loop without hiding them.

## Where next

- [The TUI](/docs/tally/guides/the-tui/): every section, launch boundary, and key
- [Continue, start, and run](/docs/tally/guides/continue-start-run/): CLI launch details
- [What syncs](/docs/tally/concepts/what-syncs/): content, metadata, and relay boundaries