# Factory App Quickstart

Install the Factory App, connect your codebase, and start your first reviewable Droid session.

Use this quickstart to install the Factory App, connect a codebase, and start a first reviewable Droid session.

## Step 1: download and install

<Steps>
  <Step title="Download the Factory App">
    - [Mac (Apple Silicon)](https://app.factory.ai/api/desktop?platform=darwin&architecture=arm64): Download for M-series Macs
- [Mac (Intel)](https://app.factory.ai/api/desktop?platform=darwin&architecture=x64): Download for Intel Macs
- [Windows (x64)](https://app.factory.ai/api/desktop?platform=win32): Download for Windows (x64)
- [Windows (ARM64)](https://app.factory.ai/api/desktop?platform=win32&architecture=arm64): Download for Windows ARM64
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install">
    - **Mac**: Open the `.dmg` file and drag Factory to Applications
    - **Windows**: Run the installer
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign In">
    Launch the Factory App and sign in with your account.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 2: connect to your codebase

<DocsSurfacePreview surface="web" caption="Factory sessions carry the same project context across desktop, web, and mobile surfaces." />

<Steps>
  <Step title="Set Your Working Directory">
    Set your working directory to your project folder. The Factory App connects directly to your local machine.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Your Model">
    Choose your preferred AI model from the model selector. You can change this anytime.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 3: start a reviewable session

<Steps>
  <Step title="Ask Droid to map the project">
    Start with a context-gathering request:

    ```text
    Analyze this codebase and explain the architecture, key entry points, and test setup
    ```

    Then ask for one small, verifiable change:

    ```text
    Add error handling to the user authentication flow and show me the diff before applying it
    ```

    Droid analyzes your codebase, proposes changes, and shows what will be modified before applying anything.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 4: connect your engineering systems

The Factory App becomes more useful when Droid can read the systems where work starts. Connect team context through:

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="MCP" icon="plug" href="/harness/mcp">
    Connect tools and internal services through Model Context Protocol servers.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Linear" icon="list-check" href="/software-factory/linear">
    Let Droid read issues and turn product requests into reviewable implementation work.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Slack" icon="comments" href="/software-factory/slack">
    Pull thread context into triage, incident response, and follow-up tasks.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Step 5: scale into a Software Factory

Once Droid is part of your daily work, move repeatable steps into persistent automations. Software Factory connects agents across your delivery lifecycle: triage, code-gen, validation, documentation, and monitoring.

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Software Factory" icon="diagram-project" href="/software-factory/overview">
    See how the SDLC stages fit together.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Automations" icon="rotate" href="/software-factory/automations">
    Run repeatable engineering workflows on a schedule or trigger.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Missions" icon="sitemap" href="/missions/running-app">
    Coordinate planned, delegated, and validated multi-agent work.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<RelatedLinks>
  <RelatedLink href='/harness/agents-md' title='Configure AGENTS.md'>
    So Droid follows your repository conventions.
  </RelatedLink>
  <RelatedLink href='/pricing/individuals' title='Compare Individual plans'>
    Before adding more users or shared usage.
  </RelatedLink>
</RelatedLinks>