Skip to main content

Getting Started with Devplan

Complete guide to account setup and your first project

Welcome to Devplan! This guide will get you from zero to your first AI-powered project in under 20 minutes.

Quick Setup Overview​

✅ Account Setup (2 min) → ✅ GitHub Integration (3 min) → ✅ CLI Installation (3 min) → ✅ First Project (10 min)

Step 1: Account Setup​

Create Your Account​

  1. Sign Up at devplan.com

    • Google SSO for fastest setup
    • Or magic-link login with email

  2. Choose Plan (can change later):

    👥 Starter: $19/user + AI credits
    ✅ Perfect for: Solo founders, agencies, builders

    📈 Professional: $49/user + AI credits
    ✅ Perfect for: Growing product teams, scale-ups

    14-day free trial includes:
    - 2 repository analyses  
    - Unlimited projects and features  
    - Full CLI access  
    - Access to a subset of generated prompts for testing

  3. Quick Profile Setup:

    • Company name and website
    • Role overview

  4. Company Setup:

    • Navigate to: Knowledge → Company
    • Add product overview, target customers, goals

Connect Your Repositories​

To get started, connect to the GitHub repos that you'll be working with. Devplan analyzes your repositories to understand your architecture, conventions, and patterns to ensure generated specs follow your approahces and standards.

1. Knowledge → Code Research → GitHub Connect
2. "Connect GitHub Account" → Authorize Devplan
3. Select repositories to analyze (start with your main repos you will be building projects in)
4. Click "Start Analysis"

What's Analyzed:

  • ✅ Framework and tech stack detection
  • ✅ Component patterns and user flows
  • ✅ Database schemas and API structures
  • ✅ Testing and build configurations

What's NOT Stored:

  • ❌ Your actual source code
  • ❌ Sensitive data or credentials

Step 3: Project Management Integration (Optional)​

Linear:

  1. Connect Linear in Settings → Integrations → Linear/Jira

Jira:

  1. Install Devplan Jira Atlassian application.
  2. Connect or re-connect Jira from the Settings -> Integrations screen

Why Integrate? Project management sync enables:

  • ✅ Automatic ticket creation from user stories
  • ✅ Real-time status updates
  • ✅ Context links between tickets and requirements
  • ✅ Sprint planning with Devplan estimates

Step 4: CLI Installation​

The Devplan CLI connects your local environment to your projects in the app. It lets developers pull specs, tasks, and context down to the IDE, guiding AI execution for one-shot implementation.

Install the CLI​

Homebrew

brew tap devplaninc/devplan && brew install devplan

Authenticate and Verify CLI​

# 1. Authenticate
devplan auth

# 2. Verify installation
devplan version
Why This Matters

The CLI syncs generated specs, technical designs, and tasks directly into your local workflow.
The start command plus the generated specs enables a near one-shot AI coding experience.
Custom slash commands for Claude Code further standardize and speed up developer workflows.

Step 5: Create Your First Project​

Once setup is complete, you’re ready to start your first project, ideally one with a bit of complexity!

  • Start with a short description — UX notes, an existing PRD, or even rough ideas.
  • Collaborate with the agent to refine your input into a clear product brief and initial set of user stories.
  • Review and approve stories in the Product tab to finalize scope and requirements.
  • Move to the Development tab, where the agent helps refine technical designs and generate detailed implementation tasks.
  • Developers can review, edit, and expand these designs as needed, ensuring accuracy before syncing downstream.
  • Sync all tasks to Linear or Jira for visibility and tracking.
  • Use the CLI to pull full project context into your local environment.
  • Run devplan start to initialize AI-assisted coding with Claude Code, guided by your approved specs and designs.

Team Workflows​

  • PMs: Lead PRD refinement and approve requirements
  • Engineers: Create technical plan, use CLI to spec and execute with AI
  • Managers: Track everything through Devplan roadmap and synced tools

You’re Ready! Best Practices for Success​

👩‍💼 For Product Managers​

During Discovery:

  • ✅ Provide Rich Context: Include user research, analytics, and business goals
  • ✅ Embrace AI Questions: Let the agent help you think through edge cases
  • ✅ Review Generated PRDs: Use the AI review process to catch gaps
  • ✅ Reference Related Features: Mention existing user flows and features where appropriate

👨‍💻 For Engineers​

During Implementation:

  • ✅ Collaborate with the Agent: Ask follow-up questions or request refinements to generated designs and tasks to ensure clarity before implementation.
  • ✅ Review the Prompts: AI prompts include architectural decisions and patterns
  • ✅ Use CLI Workflow: devplan start with Claude Code saves 15-30 minutes per feature

References​

🚀 Start Building

  • Create your first project and try the full cycle
  • Compare the AI-assisted build to your normal dev workflow

📚 Learn More

Need Help?