Create your account, verify your e-mail and set up two-factor

Everything in SrvYard happens inside an account: your servers, sites and teammates belong to an organisation, and an organisation belongs to people with accounts. Creating yours takes about two minutes. This article walks through registering, confirming your email address, creating your first organisation and, before you connect any server, locking the account down with two-factor authentication.

Do the last step. A SrvYard account can reach production servers, so a leaked password should never be enough on its own.

Before you begin#

• An email address you can read. SrvYard sends a message with a confirmation link, and later alerts and invitations go to the same address.
• A password manager, or an authenticator app. Any app that supports one-time codes (TOTP) works: 1Password, Bitwarden, Google Authenticator, Authy and others.
• A good password. In production SrvYard requires at least 12 characters with upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, and refuses passwords that appear in known data breaches. A passphrase is easier to remember and just as strong.

1. Register#

Open the registration page. You can sign up with a social account or with an email address.

1. GitHub, Google, GitLab or Apple. Registers (or signs in) with that account. You can still add a password later and connect more accounts under Settings > Security.
2. Name. Your full name, shown to teammates.
3. Email address. Use an address you will keep. It receives the confirmation link.
4. Password. Press the eye icon to check what you typed. Enter it again in Confirm password.
5. Create account. Sends you to the next step. The page also links to Log in if you already have an account.

2. Verify your email address#

After you register, SrvYard sends a message with the subject "Verify your email to activate your SrvYard account". It greets you by name and has one button, Verify my email. The page you land on, Email verification, asks you to verify your address by clicking the link just emailed to you.

• I did not get the message. Check spam first, then press Resend verification email on that page. SrvYard says "A new verification link has been sent to the email address you provided during registration."
• I made a typo in the address. Choose Log out on the same page and register again with the right one.

Until the address is verified, the rest of the app is closed: every organisation page needs a verified account.

3. Create your first organisation#

The first time you sign in with a verified address and no organisation, SrvYard shows a page titled Create your first organization, which explains that an organisation holds your team and billing. Enter the Organization name (it suggests one) and continue. You become its owner, and you land on its dashboard.

You can rename it later, invite teammates and create more organisations. How organisations, servers and sites fit together is in Organisations, servers and sites: how they fit together.

4. Check your profile#

Open your avatar menu at the top right and choose your profile, or go to Settings > Profile.

1. Upload. A photo for your avatar: PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 2 MB.
2. Name. How teammates see you.
3. Email address. Changing it asks you to verify the new address.
4. Save. Applies the change.

Below, Data & privacy lets you download a copy of your data or erase your personal data, and Delete account removes the account permanently, so be careful with it.

5. Turn on two-factor authentication#

Open Settings > Security. SrvYard asks you to confirm your password first: this is a secure area, and the confirmation lasts a few hours.

1. Update password. Change the password: enter the current one, then the new one twice, and press Save.
2. Enable 2FA. Starts two-factor authentication. SrvYard shows a QR code and a setup key. Scan the code with your authenticator app (or type the key in by hand), press Continue, and enter the 6-digit code the app shows to prove it works. Then SrvYard shows your recovery codes.
3. Add passkey. Registers a passkey, such as a fingerprint or security key, so you can sign in without a password.

Save the recovery codes in your password manager before you close the dialog. Each code can be used once and lets you in if you lose your phone. You can view them later with View recovery codes, and make new ones with the regenerate button.

From then on, signing in with a password asks a second question: Authentication code (the code from your app) or, using the link under it, login using a recovery code.

Connected accounts and sessions#

Further down the same page, Connected accounts lists GitHub, Google, GitLab and Apple with a Connect button for each, so you can sign in with them as well as with your password. Login sessions lists every browser where you are signed in, with the device, the address and when it was last active; the current one is marked This device. Press Sign out on a session you do not recognise, or Sign out other sessions to keep only this one, and use View full sign-in history (Auth Log) to see every sign-in attempt. It is worth a look after you change your password or lose a laptop.

6. Know how to sign in again#

1. Sign in with a passkey. Uses a passkey registered on your account.
2. GitHub, Google, GitLab, Apple. Sign in with a social account connected to yours.
3. Login with email. Reveals the email and password fields, plus Remember me and Forgot your password?.

Failed password attempts are limited to a few per minute for each address and IP address, so a wrong password repeatedly will lock you out for a short while.

What to do next#

With the account safe, the usual order is: create or connect a server, create a site on it, then deploy. Deploy your first site in ten minutes strings those steps together, and Before you go live: a launch checklist lists what to check before real traffic arrives.

Troubleshooting#

• The verification email never arrives. Check spam and your company filter, wait a minute, then use Resend verification email. Add the sender to your allow list if your organisation filters aggressively.
• The verification link says it is invalid or expired. Request a new one with Resend verification email; only the latest link works.
• "These credentials do not match our records". Check the email address and password, or use Forgot your password? to reset it by email.
• Too many attempts. Wait a minute and try again; the limit is per address and IP address.
• My authenticator codes are rejected. The clock on your phone is probably off. Turn on automatic time, then try the next code. If it still fails use a recovery code.
• I lost my phone and my recovery codes. Nobody in your organisation can switch your two-factor off for you. Contact support from the Support link in the footer, with proof you own the account.
• I cannot open Settings > Security. Confirm your password when asked; the confirmation expires after a few hours.

Related#

• Organisations, servers and sites: how they fit together: what you just created.
• Two-factor authentication and active sessions: recovery codes, passkeys and signing out other devices.
• A tour of the dashboard, sidebar and command search: the next step.
• Invite team members: bring your colleagues in.