> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.aliengh.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Get started

> From download to your first described component in about five minutes.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Get the beta">
    Sign up with your email at [aliengh.com](https://aliengh.com/#waitlist) and we'll send you the download link with the beta notes. Already have the email? Open its link and download the installer for your computer.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install it with Rhino closed">
    Quit Rhino fully (on macOS, **Cmd+Q**: closing its windows isn't enough), then run the installer. It installs for your user only and needs no admin rights or password.

    The installers aren't signed yet, so your computer warns you once. [Installation](/installation) shows how to get past it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Place an Alien component">
    Start Rhino, type `Grasshopper`, and place an **Alien** component from the **Alien** tab, under **Script**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the panel and link a key">
    Click **PANEL** on the component (or double-click it). The first time, the panel opens on **Help** and walks you through connecting OpenRouter, which takes about three minutes:

    1. Create an OpenRouter account (Google, GitHub or email).
    2. Add some credit. US$5 goes a long way: describing a component costs about US$0.002.
    3. Create an API key, set a credit limit on it if you like, and copy it.
    4. Paste it into Help and click **Link key**. Alien checks it with OpenRouter and shows the credit you have left.

    <Tip>Prefer to keep everything on your machine? Point Alien at a local [Ollama](https://ollama.com) model instead. See [Settings](/reference/settings).</Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Describe your first component">
    With the component selected, type what it should do in the panel and press **Enter**:

    ```text theme={null}
    divide a curve into 20 points
    ```

    Alien writes the script, runs it and fixes its own errors. In a few seconds the component has its pins (for example a curve in, points out) and a slider for the count. Wire in a curve. (In the next beta you can also click **Select in Rhino** on the component and pick one in the viewport.)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Change it by saying so">
    Type a follow-up, such as `space the points by distance instead`. Alien edits the same component. Wires stay connected (they're matched by pin name) and the earlier version is kept, so you can go back.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Try a ready-made component" icon="map-location-dot" href="/components/site">
    Open the panel's library (the **Nodes** tab) and place `vic_site_map`. Type a Victorian address and watch the site arrive.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Build on your canvas" icon="diagram-project" href="/guides/describe-a-component#build-on-whats-there">
    Select a few components, describe a new one that uses them, and it lands beside them, already wired.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bring your agent" icon="robot" href="/guides/connect-an-agent">
    Connect Claude Code or Cursor and let it build and wire components while you watch.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Know what it costs" icon="receipt" href="/guides/costs-and-privacy">
    Only model calls cost anything, and AI components only call a model when you press Generate.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.