---
title: "Get started"
description: "What Outpost is, what the pieces are called, and the order to set them up in."
url: "https://support.outpostplatform.com/get-started/"
product: "platform"
type: "concept"
status: "stub"
ai_summary: "Orientation page for Outpost. Names the three tiers, the Outpost service, Depot and the Agent, and the path from a new account to a first managed endpoint."
source: "https://gitlab.com/outpostplatform/docs/-/edit/main/src/content/docs/get-started/index.md"
license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

# Get started

Outpost manages endpoints. This section is the shortest path from nothing to a
managed endpoint that reports in, plus the vocabulary the rest of this
documentation assumes. It is for whoever is evaluating Outpost or setting it up
for the first time, whether that is one IT department or a provider serving
many.

<!-- TODO: write this page against the concept template.

Sections:

- The three tiers, and what each one is responsible for.
- The four Depot operating modes, and how to tell which one you want.
- A first deployment, start to finish, with the checks that prove it worked.
- Where to go next by role: IT department, managed service provider, support
  staff.
-->

Follow the [concept template](https://gitlab.com/outpostplatform/docs/-/blob/main/templates/concept.md).