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

# Getting Started

> Get from zero to your first Copilot query in under 5 minutes

Get from zero to your first Copilot query in under 5 minutes.

## 1. Get a Personal Access Token

Log in to [Colosseum Arena](https://arena.colosseum.org/copilot) and generate a PAT. The token is shown once. Copy it immediately and store it securely.

## 2. Set environment variables

```bash theme={null}
export COLOSSEUM_COPILOT_API_BASE="https://copilot.colosseum.com/api/v1"
export COLOSSEUM_COPILOT_PAT="your-token-here"
```

Add these to your shell profile (`.zshrc`, `.bashrc`, etc.) so they persist across sessions.

## 3. Install the skill

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Claude Code">
    ```bash theme={null}
    npx skills add ColosseumOrg/colosseum-copilot
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Codex">
    ```bash theme={null}
    npx skills add ColosseumOrg/colosseum-copilot -a codex
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="OpenClaw">
    ```bash theme={null}
    npx skills add ColosseumOrg/colosseum-copilot -a openclaw
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## 4. Verify the connection

```bash theme={null}
curl "$COLOSSEUM_COPILOT_API_BASE/status" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COLOSSEUM_COPILOT_PAT"
```

You should see a JSON response like `{ "authenticated": true, "expiresAt": "...", "scope": "..." }`.

## 5. Run your first query

Open your coding assistant and ask:

> What Solana hackathon projects have worked on gasless transactions?

Copilot will search the project corpus and return a concise list with project slugs and descriptions.

For a deeper analysis, try:

> I want to build a privacy-preserving stablecoin on Solana. Vet this idea.

This triggers the full 8-step deep research workflow: parallel searches across projects, archives, and web; incumbent validation; gap classification; and a structured opportunity report.

Your token expires after 90 days. See [Authentication](/copilot/authentication) for details.

## Troubleshooting

**400 Invalid JSON**: Your request body contains malformed JSON. Check for syntax errors, trailing commas, or unescaped characters.

**401 Unauthorized**: Your PAT is missing, expired, or malformed. Generate a new one at [/copilot](https://arena.colosseum.org/copilot).

**413 Payload Too Large**: Your request body exceeds the 1 MB size limit. Reduce the payload size.

**429 Too Many Requests**: You've hit a rate limit. See [API Reference](/copilot/api-reference) for limits. Most agent runtimes serialize overflow automatically.

**Skill not loading**: Ensure the skill file is in the correct location for your tool. For Claude Code, verify with `claude skill list`.

## Keeping the skill up to date

Run `npx skills update` to pull the latest version. The skill also checks automatically: after your first API call, it compares its local version against the `X-Copilot-Skill-Version` response header and notifies you if an update is available.