# Get started in 15 minutes
Swarmia is a software engineering intelligence platform that helps engineering leaders and their teams understand whether they’re working on the right things, find what’s holding them back, and keep getting better — with data they can trust and the tools to act on it. Follow these steps to get started.
## Step 0: Sign up
[Sign up](https://app.swarmia.com/signup/) to create your Swarmia organization. You can choose from three authentication methods: Google, Microsoft, and GitHub. If you select GitHub, you need to install Swarmia in your GitHub organization to continue. After signing up, you can change the authentication method to any of the three or enable Okta.
The Swarmia app home page guides you through the initial setup steps.
## Step 1: Connect code hosting platform
If you signed up by authenticating with GitHub, you have already completed this step.
### GitHub
**GitHub Cloud**
1. Ensure you have [the necessary admin permissions on GitHub](https://docs.github.com/en/github-ae@latest/developers/apps/getting-started-with-apps/differences-between-github-apps-and-oauth-apps#who-can-install-github-apps-and-authorize-oauth-apps)
2. Navigate to [code hosting settings in Swarmia](https://app.swarmia.com/settings/version-control), click **Connect**, and select GitHub Cloud
3. Select the GitHub organization
4. Select the repositories you want to sync to Swarmia
5. Review the required authorizations, and click *Install & Authorize*
**GitHub Enterprise Server**
1. Contact us at to get you started
2. [See detailed instructions](https://help.swarmia.com/getting-started/integrations/github/github-enterprise-server)
### GitLab
**GitLab Cloud**
1. Create a service account user in GitLab and add it to the projects you want to import to Swarmia
2. Log in to the GitLab service account, navigate to [code hosting settings in Swarmia](https://app.swarmia.com/settings/version-control), click **Connect**, and select GitLab Cloud
3. Authorize the app
4. Add webhooks in GitLab settings
**GitLab Server**
1. Create OAuth app in your GitLab server
2. Create a service account user in GitLab and add it to the projects you want to import to Swarmia
3. Add the OAuth app details to Swarmia: Log in to the GitLab service account, navigate to [code hosting settings in Swarmia](https://app.swarmia.com/settings/version-control), click **Connect**, and select GitLab Server
4. Add webhooks in GitLab settings
5. Configure your firewall to allow Swarmia's IP address
[See detailed instructions](https://help.swarmia.com/getting-started/integrations/gitlab) for GitLab Cloud and GitLab Server.
{% hint style="info" %}
All users in your Swarmia organization can read the metadata (such as pull or merge request names) for all integrated repositories in Swarmia. Use caution if working with sensitive repositories.\
\
Swarmia collects the file names and sizes of commits from the source code. **We do not store your source code.** [Learn more about data security.](https://www.swarmia.com/security/)
{% endhint %}
## Step 2: Connect issue tracker
### Jira
1. Ensure you have Jira admin permissions
2. Navigate to [Jira settings in Swarmia](https://app.swarmia.com/settings/jira) and follow the installation guide
3. After the projects are synced and you have created your Swarmia teams (Step 4), [assign issue ownership for the teams](https://help.swarmia.com/getting-started/configuration/issue-tracker-configuration).
[See detailed instructions.](https://help.swarmia.com/getting-started/integrations/issue-trackers/jira)
### Linear
1. Ensure you have Linear admin permissions
2. Navigate to [Linear settings in Swarmia](https://app.swarmia.com/settings/linear) and follow the installation guide
[See detailed instructions.](https://help.swarmia.com/getting-started/integrations/issue-trackers/linear)
## Step 3: Connect messaging app
### Slack
1. Ensure you have Slack admin permissions
2. Navigate to [Slack settings in Swarmia](https://app.swarmia.com/settings/slack) and follow the installation guide
3. Sign in to your Slack workspace, review permissions, and click **Allow.**
### Microsoft Teams
1. Ensure Entra SSO is selected as your organization's authentication provider.
2. Ensure you have the Teams Administrator role or have permission to add apps to your Microsoft organization.
3. Navigate to [Microsoft Teams settings in Swarmia](https://app.swarmia.com/settings/microsoft-teams) and follow the installation guide.
[See detailed installation instructions](https://help.swarmia.com/getting-started/integrations/messaging-apps/microsoft-teams)
{% hint style="info" %}
Most engineers interact with Swarmia through Slack or Microsoft Teams by receiving personal notifications, team digests, and feedback on working agreements. [Read our blog post](https://www.swarmia.com/blog/github-slack-integration/) to learn about the benefits.
{% endhint %}
## Step 4: Create teams
Organize contributors into teams to see data across your organization in Swarmia. For new organizations, we automatically create a trial team consisting of all active contributors in your GitHub organization. The team lets you see relevant data from the start, and you can delete it after creating at least one new team.
Swarmia automatically merges user identities from all connected tools into contributors. You can review and edit them in [contributor settings](https://app.swarmia.com/settings/contributors).
Navigate to [team settings](https://app.swarmia.com/settings/teams), and choose from the following methods:
* Create teams manually by adding contributors to teams
* Import teams from GitHub
* Integrate with the Swarmia team API
[Learn more about creating & managing teams.](https://help.swarmia.com/getting-started/teams-and-members/managing-teams)
## **We're here for you**
Our team is ready to help you during setup and onboarding. For questions or feedback, reach out to us via the in-app form or email at .
