authentication.mdx

title	Lesson 1: Authentication
description	Set up the Lua CLI and authenticate your account

**Beginner** | 5 min | Lesson 1 of 18

What you'll learn

• Run the Lua CLI
• Authenticate your account interactively
• Verify your setup works

Interactive Terminal

Use the terminal below to follow along. lua-cli is pre-installed and ready to use.

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Step 1: Check the CLI

The Lua CLI is pre-installed in the terminal above. Verify it's working:

lua --version

You should see the version number printed.

Step 2: Authenticate

Run the authentication command — the CLI will guide you through the process interactively:

lua auth configure

The CLI will ask you to choose between:

• API Key — paste your key when prompted
• Email OTP — enter your email, check your inbox for the code, then enter it

**Don't have an API key?** No worries — choose the email option. The CLI will send a one-time code to your inbox.

Step 3: Verify

Once authenticated, check that everything is connected:

lua agents

You should see your organizations and agents listed. If you're brand new, the list may be empty — that's fine! We'll create an agent in the next lesson.

Knowledge Check

`lua auth configure` — this launches the interactive authentication wizard where you choose between API key or email OTP. 1. **API Key** — if you already have one, paste it when prompted 2. **Email OTP** — the CLI sends a 6-digit code to your email Run `lua agents` to list your organizations and agents. If it returns results (or an empty list without errors), you're authenticated.

Next Steps

Create and configure your first AI agent Full authentication command reference