> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://wayfinder-1.gitbook.io/wayfinder/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://wayfinder-1.gitbook.io/wayfinder/shells/getting-started.md).

# Getting Started

Go from zero to your first trade in a few minutes.

## Provision a Shell

1. Open [wayfinder.ai/app/shells](https://wayfinder.ai/app/shells).
2. Connect your browser wallet or social account.
3. Click **Provision**. Review and sign the pre-boot acknowledgment.
4. Your Shell spins up — a sandboxed runtime with your own persistent agent.
5. Deposit ETH, USDC, or any supported token. Gas is sponsored on ten EVM chains on any plan, with Solana sponsorship included in Pro ([details](/wayfinder/shells/portfolio-trading.md#sponsored-gas)); everything else still needs native gas.
6. Type a prompt in the chat. The agent executes within the permissions you set.

### One wallet, two addresses

Your Shell wallet has an EVM address and a Solana address under one name. Provisioning sets up both, so there's no separate Solana onboarding — deposit to whichever address matches the token you're sending, and both sets of balances show up in the same portfolio.

**Settings → Wallet** lists both addresses for each wallet, tagged `EVM` and `SVM`, each with a copy button and a key icon that exports that leg's private key if you want to take it elsewhere.

### Bring your own wallet

By default, provisioning generates a fresh Shell wallet for your agent. If you'd rather trade from a wallet you already hold, choose **Import an existing wallet** on the pre-boot screen and paste its private key.

There's a field for an EVM key and a field for a Solana one, and you can use either or both. Leave one blank and Wayfinder generates that leg for you, so the wallet always ends up with both addresses. You can do the same later from **Add wallet** in the portfolio dropdown.

Either key is encrypted in your browser before it leaves your device — Wayfinder's servers only ever receive ciphertext, never the raw key. It's then handed to the same remote signer that secures generated Shell wallets, so your agent trades from your existing address without ever holding the key itself. See [Safety & Permissions](/wayfinder/sdk-concepts/safety.md) for how signing works.

### If you signed up with a social account

Signing in with a social account creates a personal wallet alongside your Shell wallets. Your agent can't transact from it, so anything sent there sits idle — which is easy to do by accident if you copy the wrong address.

**Settings → Wallet** has an **Account wallet recovery** card for exactly this. It shows the wallet's address and whether it's holding anything, then gives you two ways out:

* **Move funds** sweeps its balances into your Shell wallet.
* **Export private key** hands you the key so you can import the wallet elsewhere.

Export works whether or not you've provisioned a Shell wallet. Moving funds needs somewhere to move them to, so provision one first.

## Your first session

A fresh Shell greets you with starter prompts: one-click suggestions covering market research, backtesting, and trade structuring. Pick one to see what the agent can do, or try any of these:

```
What tokens do I have and what are they worth?
```

```
Buy 0.1 ETH with USDC on Base.
```

```
Show me the top prediction markets on Polymarket right now.
```

```
Show me the best stablecoin yields.
```

The agent confirms before executing any transaction. Review the details, approve, and the trade goes through.

## Arranging your panels

Your Shell is a grid of panels you rearrange, and two menus in the top bar drive it. **Add panel** adds one — chart, portfolio, trade ticket, order book, Polymarket, Signals, Trenches, chain flows, and more. **Layouts** saves an arrangement you like and restores it later.

The Layouts menu also carries three presets, so you don't have to build a layout from scratch:

| Preset         | What you get                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Perpetuals** | Chart, trade ticket next to the order book, chat, and portfolio — the standard setup for perp trading.                                                                                                      |
| **Memes**      | Chart, [Trenches](/wayfinder/shells/trenches.md), and chat. Stripped down for hunting new launches.                                                                                                         |
| **Analyst**    | Chart alongside Mini Charts, an order book, [chain flows](/wayfinder/shells/chain-flows.md) next to [Signals](/wayfinder/shells/signals.md), and chat. Built for reading the market rather than trading it. |

Applying a preset replaces your current arrangement, so save the one you're on first if you want it back. Analyst includes Mini Charts, which is a Pro panel — without Pro, that tile prompts an upgrade instead of loading.

## Chat commands

Type `/` in the chat box to open the command menu. Slash commands manage the conversation itself:

| Command    | What it does                                   |
| ---------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| `/compact` | Summarize the conversation and free up context |
| `/undo`    | Revert the last response                       |
| `/redo`    | Restore what `/undo` reverted                  |
| `/clear`   | Start a new conversation                       |

`/compact` is the one to remember: long sessions accumulate context, and compacting keeps the agent sharp without losing the thread.

## Upgrading to Pro

Pro keeps your Shell running between sessions, so [scheduled jobs](/wayfinder/shells/scheduled-jobs.md) fire with the browser closed. It also carries Solana gas sponsorship, [texting](/wayfinder/shells/texting.md), the Mini Charts panel, and a reputation multiplier on the [leaderboard](/wayfinder/shells/rewards.md).

If you signed in with a wallet and never gave Wayfinder an email address, checkout asks for one before it hands you to the payment step. That's the address your receipts and billing notices go to — the agent's notification email is set separately.

If a Pro payment fails, the plan card flags it and gives you a button through to the billing portal to fix the card. Sorting it there restores Pro without re-subscribing from scratch.

## Managing conversations

`/clear` starts a new conversation without throwing the old one away. Click the **history** icon in the chat header to see every past conversation in the Shell, search them by name, and jump back into one.

Conversations are named automatically. To rename one, open the history dropdown and click the pencil on its row — useful once you're running several threads and "Untitled chat" stops telling you anything.

## What happens next

Your Shell persists between sessions. Come back tomorrow and the conversation, positions, and jobs are still there.

* [Portfolio & trading](/wayfinder/shells/portfolio-trading.md) for charts, P\&L, and market discovery
* [Scheduled jobs](/wayfinder/shells/scheduled-jobs.md) to automate recurring tasks while you're away