Get Started

nao Cloud is the hosted version of nao, running at app.getnao.io. We run the chat app, database, and your projects - you don’t deploy or manage any infrastructure. Build your context locally (or in Git) and push it to your Cloud workspace.

Prefer to run nao on your own infrastructure? See the Deployment Guide. The organization and project model below is the same in both.

Step 1: Create your account

Go to app.getnao.io/signup and sign up with email and password, or with Google. On your first sign-in, nao automatically creates a workspace (your organization) with you as its admin - there is no separate setup wizard. If you sign up with a Google address whose domain already has a nao Cloud workspace, you can be added to that existing workspace instead. Already have an account? Sign in at app.getnao.io/login.

Step 2: Add your first project

A fresh workspace has no project yet. A project holds one agent’s context, data connections, chats, and members. There are two ways to create one.

Option A: Import from GitHub

If your nao project already lives in a GitHub repository (a folder containing nao_config.yaml), import it straight from the browser:

From the empty-project screen, choose Import from GitHub.
Authorize the nao GitHub app on the account or organization that owns the repo.
Pick the repository and branch that holds your nao_config.yaml.

nao clones the repo and creates the project. You can re-pull the latest commit anytime from the project’s Git sync settings.

The repository picker only lists repos the nao GitHub app can access. If yours isn’t listed, add it to the app’s installation on GitHub.

Option B: Deploy from the CLI

If you build context locally with the CLI, push it to your workspace with nao deploy.

Build your project locally - see the Quickstart:

pip install nao-core
nao init      # creates nao_config.yaml and the context folder
nao sync      # pulls schemas, repos, and docs into the context

In the Cloud UI, open Settings -> Organization Settings, find the Organization API Keys card, and click Create key. Copy it - it’s shown only once.

From the project folder, deploy to your Cloud workspace:

nao deploy https://app.getnao.io --api-key nao_sk_...

The project name comes from project_name in nao_config.yaml. Deploying a new name creates a project; deploying an existing name replaces its context in place. See the nao deploy reference below for all command flags, default exclusions, .naoignore, and create-vs-update behavior.

Step 3: Configure the project

Your data connections, rules, and semantics are defined in nao_config.yaml and your context folder - edit them locally and re-deploy (or push to the connected Git branch). A few things are set directly in the Cloud UI:

Environment variables and budgets - open Settings -> Project Settings & Budget.
Models and agent capabilities - open Settings -> Agent, then choose the Models or Capabilities tab.
MCP servers - open Settings -> Agent -> MCP servers.
Messaging integrations - open Settings -> Integrations & MCP, then choose Slack, Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp, or Mattermost.

Context Builder

Structure the databases, repos, rules, and semantics your agent reads from

Step 4: Invite your team

Add teammates from Settings -> Members: invite by email and pick a role. Each new member signs in with their email and the generated password. Members join projects to get access to that project’s chats, context, and data - manage each project’s members under Settings -> Team. For roles and permissions, see Admin Setup.

On Cloud, users who sign in with a Google address on your workspace’s claimed domain can join automatically - no manual invite needed.

Step 5: Start chatting

Open your project and ask a question in plain English. The agent uses your project’s context to write SQL, run it against your connected warehouse, and return results and charts.

nao deploy reference

The nao deploy command packages a local nao project and uploads it to a remote nao instance. It is the bridge between a project built locally with nao init / nao sync and a Cloud (or self-hosted) instance that runs chats, scheduled jobs, and integrations against that project.

Prerequisites

A remote nao instance URL (Cloud workspace or your self-hosted deployment).
An organization-level API key - create one from Settings -> Organization Settings -> Organization API Keys (see Step 2, Option B).
A local project with a valid nao_config.yaml that has a project_name field.

Command

Run from the project directory (the folder that contains nao_config.yaml), or point at it with --path:

nao deploy <url> --api-key <key>
nao deploy <url> --api-key <key> --path /path/to/project

Flag	Description
`<url>`	URL of the remote nao instance (positional). For nao Cloud, use `https://app.getnao.io`.
`-k`, `--api-key`	Organization API key used to authenticate the upload.
`-p`, `--path`	Project directory. Defaults to the current working directory.

What gets uploaded

nao deploy builds a gzipped tarball of the project folder and uploads it to <url>/api/deploy. The server extracts the archive, reads project_name from nao_config.yaml, and either creates a new project or updates the existing one with the same name. These paths are always skipped when building the archive: .git, .venv, .env, node_modules, __pycache__, repos, *.pyc. Add a .naoignore file at the project root to exclude extra files (one pattern per line, # for comments):

# .naoignore
dbt_packages
logs
secrets.yaml
*.parquet

Create vs update

The server looks up a project by (organization, project_name):

If no project with that name exists, a new one is created (status: "created").
If one already exists, its context folder is replaced with the uploaded content (status: "updated").

There is no merge. Every deploy is a full replacement of the project’s context folder on the remote instance.

Errors

Authentication failed. Check your API key. - the API key is missing, revoked, or does not belong to the target organization.
No nao_config.yaml found in current directory - run from a project root or pass --path.
nao_config.yaml is missing a 'project_name' field - add project_name: my_project at the top of nao_config.yaml.
Could not connect to <url> - check the URL and that the instance is reachable from your network.

What’s next

Context Builder

Structure the databases, repos, rules, and semantics your agent reads from

Host multiple projects

Run several projects in one workspace with a project switcher

Git Repository Setup

Automate context deploys with GitHub Actions

Chat Interface

Stories, memory, automations, and admin tools

Context Builder

Context Engineering

Chat Interface

Connectors

Self-Hosting

nao Cloud

nao Enterprise

Developers

Get Started

Step 1: Create your account

Step 2: Add your first project

Option A: Import from GitHub

Option B: Deploy from the CLI

Step 3: Configure the project

Context Builder

Step 4: Invite your team

Step 5: Start chatting

nao deploy reference

Prerequisites

Command

What gets uploaded

Create vs update

Errors

What’s next

Context Builder

Host multiple projects

Git Repository Setup

Chat Interface

​Step 1: Create your account

​Step 2: Add your first project

​Option A: Import from GitHub

​Option B: Deploy from the CLI

​Step 3: Configure the project

Context Builder

​Step 4: Invite your team

​Step 5: Start chatting

​nao deploy reference

​Prerequisites

​Command

​What gets uploaded

​Create vs update

​Errors

​What’s next

Context Builder

Host multiple projects

Git Repository Setup

Chat Interface

Step 1: Create your account

Step 2: Add your first project

Option A: Import from GitHub

Option B: Deploy from the CLI

Step 3: Configure the project

Step 4: Invite your team

Step 5: Start chatting

nao deploy reference

Prerequisites

Command

What gets uploaded

Create vs update

Errors

What’s next