Set up Calstead — no terminal required

After your purchase (or free claim), we invited your GitHub account to the Calstead repository — GitHub's word for a project folder. Open github.com/notifications (or the invite email) and click Accept invitation. Invitations expire after 7 days — if yours did, request a fresh one here.

Don't have a GitHub account yet? Create one first at github.com/signup — then tell us the username on your purchase page so we can invite the right account.

You'll know it worked when: you can open the Calstead repository page on GitHub and see its files.

On the Calstead repository page, click Fork (top right). A fork is a copy that belongs to you — you deploy from it, and it can still receive our updates later with one click.

On the “Create a new fork” screen, keep everything as it is (owner: your personal account) and click Create fork. Your copy stays private — nobody else can see it.

You'll know it worked when: you land on a page titled your-username/calstead (or calstead-free) with a “forked from” note under the title.

Your bookings need somewhere to live. Neon provides a free Postgres database — you never have to look inside it.

1. Sign up at neon.tech (the free plan is plenty).
2. Create a project — any name works (“calstead” is fine). Pick the region closest to you.
3. On the project dashboard, find Connect and copy the connection string — a long line starting with postgresql://.

That line is a password — keep it somewhere safe. You'll paste it into the builder in step 6.

You'll know it worked when: you have a postgresql://… line saved somewhere you can find it again.

Calstead emails booking confirmations from your own address. This is the only genuinely fiddly step: budget 15 minutes, and know that waiting a few hours for verification is normal — not a sign you broke something. We've put it early so the waiting happens while you do steps 5–7.

1. Sign up at resend.com (free plan).
2. Go to API Keys → Create API key. Copy the key — it starts with re_ and is only shown once. Save it with your database line.
3. Go to Domains → Add domain and enter the domain your organization owns (e.g. your-org.org). Resend shows you a short list of DNS records — think of DNS as your domain's public address book; these records tell the internet Resend may send mail for you.
4. Add those records wherever your domain is managed (see below), then click Verify back in Resend.

Verification usually completes in minutes but can take a few hours. Keep going with step 5 while it settles — you don't need to wait here.

You'll know it worked when: the domain shows Verified in Resend (check back later if it's still pending), and you have your re_ key saved.

Calstead reads your busy times through a secret calendar address (an “ICS feed”) your calendar app publishes. Find yours below — then treat that address like a password, because anyone who has it can read your calendar.

You'll know it worked when: you have a long address ending in .ics (or similar) saved with your other values. Three saved values so far: database line, Resend key, calendar address.

Now bring it together. Fill in the builder below — it assembles the settings block you'll paste into Vercel in the next step, including a secret setup token generated right here in your browser.

You'll know it worked when: you've copied the settings block and the finish-line link somewhere safe.

1. Sign up at vercel.com/signup — choose Hobby (free) and Continue with GitHub so it can see your fork.
2. Go to vercel.com/new and click Import next to calstead.
3. Project name: if you don't have your own domain, this becomes your free web address (your-name.vercel.app) — make it match what you entered in the builder.
4. Open the Environment Variables section. Here's the trick: click into the first Key field and paste your entire settings block. Vercel fills in every row automatically.
5. Click Deploy and give it about two minutes. Scrolling text is normal — that's your site being built.

You'll know it worked when: Vercel shows “Congratulations” with a preview of your page.

Open your finish-line link from step 6 — it looks like https://your-address/setup?token=…. That's your deployment's own setup page, and only you have the token.

1. Click Create database tables — one click, a few seconds.
2. Click Send a test email and check your inbox.
3. Every check on the page should now be green. If one isn't, its row says exactly what to fix.

Then the real test: open your booking page and book a meeting with yourself. You should get two emails — the guest confirmation and your host notification — with a calendar invite attached.

You'll know it worked when: your test booking shows up in your calendar, and the setup page is all green. That's it — you're live. Bookmark the finish-line link; it's your health dashboard.