Getting started

This tutorial takes you from sign-in to your first feedback. At the end, you are signed in, your workspace knows your AI choice, and you know where your feedback appears.

Before you start

You need:

• an account with one of the sign-in providers offered by your Hephaestus deployment
• access to at least one workspace
• a current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari

Each deployment chooses its own sign-in providers and features. The Technical University of Munich runs a public deployment at hephaestus.build.

If you do not have a workspace, ask an instance admin to create one or add you. To create one yourself, see Create a workspace.

Sign in

1. Open your Hephaestus deployment.
2. Select Sign in.
3. Select a provider, such as Continue with GitHub.
4. Finish the provider’s sign-in.

Hephaestus opens the Get set up page, or your workspace if you have already accepted the terms.

Your provider identity connects your work to your account. It does not grant workspace access or AI permission by itself.

Accept the terms

The Get set up page appears on your first sign-in, and again when the terms or the research question change.

1. Read Terms and privacy.
2. Select I accept the terms of use.
3. If Allow research use of your data? appears, choose Yes, allow research use or No, keep my data out of research.
4. Select Save and continue.

Hephaestus continues to the page you opened. Your data in Hephaestus explains the sign-in notice.

Choose how AI handles your work

1. Select a workspace from the workspace switcher.
2. If workspace setup appears, choose which AI may handle your work: In-house, Cloud, or No AI.
3. On that page, connect each required account that is available.
4. Select Save AI choice.

The workspace opens your Practice profile if practice reviews are on, or Activity otherwise.

You answer the AI question once. Your answer applies in all your workspaces on this deployment. To change it, select Your AI choice in the sidebar or open User settings. If you select Skip for now, Your AI choice in the sidebar opens the setup page again.

The accounts you connect each add context:

• GitHub or GitLab supplies the repository activity used by the workspace.
• Slack, when connected, lets you talk with Hephaestus in a direct message. Workspace admins can separately configure monitored channels.
• Outline, when connected, lets Hephaestus read selected team documents that are relevant to linked work. Your connected Outline account identifies you as the author of your documents.

Find your way around

The navigation changes with what is set up in your workspace.

Group	Page	What you can do
You	Practice profile	See how your work stands on the practices your workspace reviews. A workspace that reviews practices opens here.
You	Activity	See what needs you and what you did over a time range, with the work behind it. A workspace that does not review practices opens here.
You	Ask Hephaestus	Talk about feedback and recent work. The workspace needs a conversation model within your AI choice. Only workspace members can use this page.
Workspace	Practices across the workspace	See how practices stand across the workspace.
Workspace	Workspace activity	See who contributed to the workspace, or one team, and sort them by each count.
Workspace	Teams	See members grouped by team.
Administration	Workspace setup pages	Configure the workspace if you are a workspace admin. Use Team setup to configure teams.
Footer	Your AI choice	Choose In-house, Cloud, or No AI for your account. Connect the accounts this workspace requires.
Footer	Instance administration	Operate the instance, if you are an instance admin. This does not make you a workspace member.
Footer	User settings	Manage your AI choice, connected accounts, notifications, sessions, and account data. The account menu in the header also opens it.
Header	Send feedback	Send an idea, a bug report, or feedback about Hephaestus to the maintainers.

Practice profile and Practices across the workspace appear only when practice reviews are on. Ask Hephaestus appears for workspace members even if it has no model. Its page explains why it cannot answer.

Switch workspaces

You can belong to several workspaces on one deployment. Each workspace has its own repositories, members, practices, and settings.

1. Open the workspace switcher at the top of the sidebar.
2. Select a workspace.

Hephaestus keeps you on the same kind of page, such as Activity. A page about one item, such as a person or a practice, has no match there. Hephaestus then opens the home of the new workspace and says so.

If a link names a workspace that you cannot open, Hephaestus opens another workspace that you can open. A message says You cannot open the workspace and gives its name. If you can open no workspace, the page says No workspace.

Read your feedback

When practice reviews are on, Hephaestus reviews eligible pull requests, merge requests, and issues in connected repositories. Each piece of feedback explains the practice, points to evidence, and suggests a next step. By default, feedback on the work waits for a workspace admin’s approval. A completed review does not always produce a public comment.

1. Under You, open Practice profile.
2. Open a card under Your recurring feedback patterns.
3. Optional: To see each review of your work, select the chip beside the title.

Before your first review, the chip says No review yet. While your first review waits or runs, the chip names the work, and it opens no list. If you chose No AI, you can use Activity and read existing feedback.

Next steps

• Practice feedback explains how to read a comment on your work.
• Practice profile explains how to answer feedback.
• Ask Hephaestus shows how to ask about your feedback and recent work.
• Set up your workspace explains workspace setup, if you are a workspace admin.
• Product feedback explains how to send an idea or report a bug. You can also ask in GitHub Discussions.