> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.puddin.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting Started with Puddin Core: Onboarding Guide

> Onboard your institution to Puddin Core in five steps — from creating your account and connecting your LMS to reviewing your first authorship record.

Getting your institution up and running on Puddin Core takes five steps. This guide walks each role — Administrator, Teacher, and Student — through their part of the process in the order they need to act. Complete the steps in sequence: later steps depend on earlier ones being in place.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Administrator: create your institution account and configure settings">
    The Administrator is the first person to act. Start by creating your institution account at [puddin.io](https://puddin.io) and completing the initial configuration:

    1. Register your institution account and verify your email address.
    2. Enter your institution name and any required regional or compliance settings.
    3. Set your data retention policy — choose how long student writing records are stored before automatic deletion.
    4. Review and accept the data processing agreement on behalf of your institution.

    Once your account is active, you have access to the Administrator dashboard, where all user management and integration settings are controlled.

    <Tip>
      Complete your data retention and privacy settings before inviting any users. This ensures that all records created from day one are governed by your institution's policy.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Administrator: connect your LMS or invite staff directly">
    Next, choose how teachers and students will access Puddin.

    **Option A — LMS integration (recommended)**

    Connect Puddin to your learning management system using LTI 1.3. Supported platforms are Moodle, Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace, and Manaba. Integration enables single sign-on, automatic student enrolment, and assignment sync. See [LMS Integration](/core/admin/lms-integration) for platform-specific instructions.

    **Option B — Direct invitation**

    If you are not using an LMS integration, invite teachers directly from the Administrator dashboard:

    1. Go to **Users → Invite User**.
    2. Enter the teacher's institutional email address and assign the **Teacher** role.
    3. Repeat for each staff member who needs access.

    Teachers receive an invitation email with a link to set their password and complete account setup.

    <Note>
      You can mix both options — use LMS integration for student enrolment while managing teacher accounts directly, or connect everything through your LMS. The right approach depends on your institution's workflow.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Teacher: create your first assignment">
    Once a teacher account is active, the teacher can create a writing assignment:

    1. Sign in to Puddin (directly or via your LMS).
    2. Go to **Assignments → New Assignment**.
    3. Enter the assignment title, instructions, and any word count or time constraints.
    4. Set the submission deadline.
    5. Choose the writing environment: **browser-based** or **Microsoft Word add-in**.
    6. Save and publish the assignment.

    Published assignments generate a unique link or LMS activity that students use to access the writing environment.

    <Tip>
      Run a test submission yourself before sending the assignment to students. This lets you confirm the writing environment is working as expected and gives you a feel for what the authorship record looks like.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Students: receive access and complete the writing task">
    Students access the assignment through the link in your LMS or via a direct invitation from the teacher.

    1. The student opens the assignment link, which launches the Puddin writing environment (browser-based or Word add-in, depending on the assignment setting).
    2. The student writes their response directly in the Puddin environment. Writing activity — keystrokes, paste events, revisions, pauses, and session boundaries — is recorded automatically throughout the session.
    3. When the student is satisfied with their work, they submit the assignment. Submission locks the document and finalises the authorship record.

    <Warning>
      Students must write in the Puddin environment for their activity to be recorded. Work drafted outside Puddin and pasted in will appear as a single paste event, which will be visible to reviewers.
    </Warning>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Teacher: review the authorship record">
    After a student submits, the teacher can review the full authorship record:

    1. Go to **Assignments** and open the relevant assignment.
    2. Select the student's submission from the submissions list.
    3. Use the **Process Replay** to watch the document being written from the first keystroke, scrubbing the timeline or skipping to flagged events.
    4. Review the **Event Summary**, which lists paste events, large revision blocks, changes in writing speed, and notable pauses with timestamps.
    5. Read the **Process Summary**, an automatically generated overview of the session activity.
    6. If a formal record is needed, use **Generate Verification Record** to export a PDF summary of the authorship evidence.

    <Info>
      Puddin presents process evidence for a human reviewer to interpret. The platform does not make an authorship determination — that decision rests with you and your institution's academic integrity policy.
    </Info>
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Administrator Setup" icon="gear" href="/core/admin/setup">
    Detailed configuration guide for institution accounts, settings, and user management.
  </Card>

  <Card title="LMS Integration" icon="plug" href="/core/admin/lms-integration">
    Step-by-step instructions for connecting Puddin to your LMS via LTI 1.3.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How It Works" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/core/how-it-works">
    A deeper look at how Puddin captures and assembles writing process evidence.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Security & Privacy" icon="shield-halved" href="/core/admin/security-privacy">
    Data storage, access controls, GDPR compliance, and retention policy configuration.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>