---
title: Sign Up and Sign In
description: Create an Apptonomy account, verify your email, sign in, and sign out.
---

This page covers creating an account, verifying your email, signing back in, and signing out. If you were sent an invite link by a teammate, follow [Join a team by invitation](/docs/getting-started/join-a-team) instead — that flow drops you straight into their workspace.

## Before you start

- A work email you can receive mail at. Signup sends a verification message.
- Nothing else. You don't need a store connection or a credit card to create an account.

Account creation and sign-in are handled by Clerk, our authentication provider. You'll set a password or continue with Google on Clerk's hosted screens.

## Create an account

### 1. Open the sign-up form

Go to [apptonomy.ai](https://www.apptonomy.ai) and choose **Start Free Audit**, or go straight to `/signup`. The sign-up form opens in a dialog.

:::note[A security check may appear]
The form is protected by a Cloudflare Turnstile check. It usually passes silently; if it shows a challenge, complete it before the sign-up fields accept input.
:::

### 2. Enter your details

Enter your email and set a password, or choose **Continue with Google**. Email-format and password-strength problems are flagged inline before the form submits.

### 3. Verify your email

Clerk sends a verification email. Open it and click the link. A confirmation email arrives within about a minute — if it hasn't, check spam before retrying.

### 4. Finish setup

After verification you land back in the app on a brief **One moment...** screen while your account and workspace are provisioned, then you're taken into onboarding. This is where you create your first project — see [First-run onboarding](/docs/getting-started/onboarding).

## Verify it worked

You're signed in when protected pages under `/app` load without sending you back to a sign-in screen. New accounts land in onboarding; returning accounts with existing projects land on the projects list.

## Sign in

Use **Sign in** in the top navigation of the marketing site. Enter the email and password you signed up with, or continue with Google.

## Returning to a link after signing in {#deep-link-return}

If you open a direct link into the app (for example, a bookmarked audit or a project page) while signed out, Apptonomy holds that destination, shows you a sign-in screen, and sends you to the exact page you asked for once you're authenticated. You don't have to navigate back to it by hand.

The one exception is the app root and the onboarding entry: opening `/app` or `/app/onboarding` while signed out returns you to the marketing home page rather than a sign-in screen.

## Sign out

Go to `/logout` (or `/app/logout`) to end your session. You're returned to the marketing home page. Signing out on one device does not sign you out everywhere unless you're using a shared session.

## Troubleshooting

### The verification email never arrived {#verification-email-missing}

1. Check your spam and promotions folders.
2. Confirm you entered the address correctly — a typo sends the mail to the wrong inbox.
3. Wait a full minute, then trigger a resend from the verification screen.

### It says an account already exists {#account-already-exists}

That email is already registered. Switch to **Sign in** and use it there. If you don't remember your password, use the password-reset option on the sign-in screen.

### Stuck on the loading screen after verifying {#stuck-on-one-moment}

The **One moment...** and account-setup screens wait for your workspace to finish provisioning, which can take a few seconds for a brand-new account. If it persists well beyond that, reload the page — your session is already established, so you won't need to sign in again.

## Related

- [Getting Started](/docs/getting-started)
- [Join a team by invitation](/docs/getting-started/join-a-team)
- [First-run onboarding](/docs/getting-started/onboarding)
- [Quick Scan](/docs/public-tools/quick-scan)