Quickstart

You need an account and some credits. You do not need an API key to start: sign up, buy a pack and ask on the website. Create a key only when you want to connect an editor or client. This takes a few minutes.

1. Sign up or sign in

Open the sign-up page. Either enter your email and a password of at least 12 characters and then the six-digit code we email you (it expires after 15 minutes and allows five attempts), or choose Email me a code: we email a six-digit code, you type it in the same browser within 10 minutes, and you are signed in. A new address creates an account without a password; add one later with Forgot your password.

A new account opens on Connect, which shows the server address and a setup card for each app. Skip: try it on the web goes to the Ask page, named Try it here in the navigation. Connect stays in the navigation.

2. Buy a pack

Open the billing page and buy a pack once packs are available. The credits go to your account, and the website and any key can spend them. See Credits and billing.

3. Ask

Open Try it here (the Ask page), type a decision question (up to 8,000 characters) and submit. Under the question box one row shows the estimate (the most the debate can use), your balance, and a character count. You are charged what the models actually used, never more than the estimate; while the debate runs that many credits are set aside, and the unused part returns when it finishes. A debate that cannot finish is not charged. The charge is shown against "Web" in History and Usage.

Debate defaults (Settings, Debate defaults) set two things for your account, and the Ask page uses them: Use web search (on by default; see Security for where your question text can go) and Length (Quick, Standard or Thorough; Quick is the default while you hold free starter credits, otherwise Standard, and longer debates go back and forth more and can use more credits). Changing them changes the estimate. Debates are saved to your account for a limited time and you can delete any of them sooner from History. The reply has a final answer, a consensus level and any dissent.

Where sharing is turned on for your account, a finished debate also has a Share button. One click saves the debate as a decision (if it is not one yet) and shows a link that anyone who has it can read for 7 days; copy it, or turn it off at any time. You can add who decided and why, which the shared page then shows.

4. Optional: connect a client

There are two ways to connect. Sign in needs only the URL: the client opens a browser to E3D Pilot, you sign in and approve (below). An API key is for clients that cannot sign in, for scripts and for CI (further down). Either way the endpoint is https://pilot.e3d.ai/mcp (MCP over streamable HTTP).

Sign in with your account (no key)

Add the URL https://pilot.e3d.ai/mcp to the client. When the client asks you to sign in, a browser opens on E3D Pilot's approval page: sign in with your password or Email me a code, read the price and the daily limit, and approve. No key is created. The connection spends your account's credits up to the daily limit you accept, and you can revoke it any time under "Connected apps" on Settings, Advanced.

• ChatGPT: see ChatGPT (sign in, no key) below.
• claude.ai: in Settings, Connectors, add a custom connector with the URL and leave the authentication on the default sign-in option. Do not add a request header. Click to sign in when it asks, approve, then enable the connector in a chat and allow the tool on first use.
• Claude Code: debates take minutes, so raise the tool timeout, add the server without a header, then sign in from a session.

export MCP_TOOL_TIMEOUT=600000
claude mcp add --transport http pilot https://pilot.e3d.ai/mcp

Start claude, run /mcp, choose pilot and authenticate. A browser opens: approve there.

• Codex CLI: add the server with its URL only, then log in.

codex mcp add pilot --url https://pilot.e3d.ai/mcp
codex mcp login pilot

• Copilot in VS Code: use an API key (below). We have not tested signing in from VS Code.

Using an API key

ChatGPT, claude.ai, Claude Code and Codex CLI do not need one. For the other cases, open Settings, Advanced ("Advanced: API keys for CI and scripts") and create a key, optionally with a daily, monthly or total spending cap. A default daily cap applies if you set none. The secret begins with e3d_pilot_ and is shown once. Copy it into your password manager or the client configuration below before you close the dialog. We keep only a hash, so a lost key cannot be shown again; revoke it and create another.

Clients authenticate with the header Authorization: Bearer <your key>. Replace e3d_pilot_YOUR_KEY or set the named environment variable as shown. Never commit a real key to a repository.

Copilot in VS Code

Add this to .vscode/mcp.json (workspace) or your user mcp.json. VS Code asks for the key once and keeps it out of the file.

{
  "servers": {
    "pilot": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://pilot.e3d.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:pilot-key}"
      }
    }
  },
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "pilot-key",
      "description": "E3D Pilot API key",
      "password": true
    }
  ]
}

Open Copilot Chat in agent mode, start the pilot server from the tools picker, and approve its tools.

Claude Code

Debates take minutes, so raise the tool timeout, then add the server with the key in a header.

export PILOT_KEY=e3d_pilot_YOUR_KEY
export MCP_TOOL_TIMEOUT=600000
claude mcp add --transport http pilot https://pilot.e3d.ai/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer $PILOT_KEY"

Codex CLI

Add this to ~/.codex/config.toml and export PILOT_KEY before starting Codex.

[mcp_servers.pilot]
url = "https://pilot.e3d.ai/mcp"
bearer_token_env_var = "PILOT_KEY"
tool_timeout_sec = 600

claude.ai (custom connector)

To use a key instead of signing in: in Settings, Connectors, add a custom connector with the URL https://pilot.e3d.ai/mcp. Set Authentication to No sign-in (not "Sign in now" or "Sign in when needed"), add a request header named x-auth-token whose value is the key alone with no Bearer prefix, then enable the connector in a chat and allow the tool on first use.

ChatGPT (sign in, no key)

ChatGPT adds custom connectors in developer mode, and which plans and workspaces have it varies, so you may need to ask your workspace admin. In ChatGPT, open Settings, then Apps & Connectors, then Advanced settings and turn on Developer mode. Create a connector with the URL https://pilot.e3d.ai/mcp, set Authentication to OAuth, and confirm that you trust the application. ChatGPT opens E3D Pilot's approval page: sign in (a password, or Email me a code) and approve. Then enable the connector in a chat and allow the tool on first use. No key is created and the connector spends your account's credits. Revoke it any time under "Connected apps" in Settings, Advanced.

5. Try it from your client

Ask your assistant a decision question, for example: "Use the debate tool: should this small CLI store its state in JSON or SQLite?" The reply contains a final answer, a consensus level, and any dissent. See Tools for the arguments, and Credits and billing if a call is refused.

Troubleshooting

• 401 from the endpoint: the key is wrong, revoked, or the Authorization header is missing. See Authentication. If you meant to sign in instead, remove the header from the client so it can start the sign-in.
• The server starts but no tools appear: restart the client, and in VS Code send any chat message first, then start the server.
• A refusal that mentions credits or limits: see Credits and billing and Errors and limits.