Cargo Quickstart — first value in two minutes

One guided demo: pull ~25 fresh leads matching a buyer persona the user picks, show the cost receipt, then save the pull as a recurring play. The point is not the list — it's that in minute 3 the user owns a running system, not a one-off result.

A new account starts with 100 free credits — no card. This demo spends about 0.5 of them. Say that out loud before the first paid call ("this costs about half a credit of your 100 free ones"): it converts the moment from a purchase decision into a look around, which is the whole job of a quickstart. Never let a new user think the demo is why they'd run out.

Bootstrap

Already signed in (cargo-ai whoami returns a workspace)? Skip to the next section.

npm install -g @cargo-ai/cli            # no global install? prefix every command with `npx @cargo-ai/cli`
cargo-ai login --email you@company.com  # emailed code, no browser; creates the account on first use
                                        # alternatives: --oauth (browser) · --token <api-token> (CI)
cargo-ai whoami                         # confirm the active workspace before any write

Every command prints JSON to stdout; failures exit non-zero with {"errorMessage": "..."}. Anything that creates a run or a batch is async — pass --wait-until-finished or poll the matching get. When the full skill bundle is installed, ../cargo/references/prerequisites.md adds the CLI version pin, token scopes, and the admin-only surface.