Initial platform setup¶
Draft based on the recorded implementation and intended setup design. The backend is implemented and the frontend connects to it, with outcome and recovery gaps. Live delivery and reader acceptance have not been verified.
Initial platform setup establishes the first platform Administrator for a Zerohive installation. That administrator belongs to the team operating Zerohive and can enter the Platform Console subject to the normal sign-in and staff-access checks. This is a service-wide responsibility: it is different from creating an organization or becoming an administrator within one workspace.
For example, the operating team might nominate Amina Okafor as its first administrator. Setup establishes her platform access. If her account needs activation, Amina then completes activation before signing in. Her organization still needs its own workspace, members, permissions and subscription decisions through the relevant product journeys.
Who is responsible¶
| Reader | What initial setup means for you |
|---|---|
| End user or external participant | You normally join through an invitation, registration or an existing account. You do not run initial platform setup to join an organization. |
| Manager | Arrange the appropriate workspace membership and product access for your team. Initial platform setup does not enroll the team or grant its permissions. |
| Executive or service sponsor | Name an accountable operating team and first administrator. Treat completed setup as one onboarding milestone; require separate confirmation of service readiness and the organization's commercial arrangements. |
| Workspace administrator | Your role governs your organization. It does not authorize service-wide bootstrap or grant access to the Platform Console. |
| Platform staff and operators | Coordinate the controlled initial setup, confirm the nominated account and verify the outcome. Staff procedures and technical recovery instructions are held in private GitHub documentation. |
| Support | Establish whether the problem concerns an unfinished installation, account activation, sign-in or an already configured installation. These require different responses. |
The initial setup screen is intended for the operating team's approved administrator. It does not require an existing signed-in administrator, because it creates the initial administrative access. Separate installation and access controls still apply. Seeing the screen does not authorize an ordinary customer to use it.
What completion changes¶
Setup accepts the nominated person's identity details and assigns the platform Administrator role through the installation process. The service records that installation has been completed. Subsequent first-run setup is closed, including if administrator access becomes unavailable later.
The nominated email may already belong to an account. The result depends on that account:
| Account condition | Result |
|---|---|
| No existing account | Setup creates the account and grants administrator access. The person needs account activation to establish their password and complete the account journey. |
| Existing active account with an unverified email, without the Administrator role | Setup grants the role and refreshes the activation code. The person completes activation using the existing account. |
| Existing active, verified account, without the Administrator role | Setup grants the role and requests a staff-access notification. The person uses the existing sign-in process; setup does not require a new activation merely because the role was granted. |
| Existing active account already holding the Administrator role | Setup leaves the account and role unchanged. It can record installation completion if that milestone has not yet been recorded. It does not send a new activation code in this case. |
| Existing inactive account | Setup refuses to use it. The operating team must investigate the account and use the appropriate recovery process. |
Completion and email arrival are separate events. A successful setup response does not prove that a message reached the recipient. The account's actual activation state determines the next step; a generic instruction to activate is not sufficient evidence that every account requires it.
What the milestone does not establish¶
Initial setup does not purchase a plan, establish workspace membership, allocate product licenses or create a customer workspace. Follow workspace creation and initial payment for that journey. There is no purchase or plan selection in the setup form.
It also does not certify that all environments, mail delivery, product services or external providers are ready. The operating team still needs to verify the deployed environment and each relevant service. A working design or a successful backend response alone cannot establish those facts.
The completion record is deliberately durable. Losing access to an administrator does not turn the installation into a new installation. Removing or deactivating accounts must not be treated as a way to reopen first-run setup. Account deactivation and recovery explains the retained account identity and the special operator recovery boundary.
When help is needed¶
If you encounter setup while expecting to use an established organization, contact the team operating your Zerohive service with the service address, approximate time and visible message. Do not attempt to create a replacement administrator or send credentials in a support message.
If an administrator has submitted setup but has no clear result, the operating team must check the recorded installation and account outcome before another attempt. A timeout is not proof that nothing was saved. If setup completed, continue with the appropriate account activation or sign-in journey. If it failed, the operator decides the recovery path after checking the failure.
If activation is required, use account activation guidance. If an existing verified account is ready, use sign-in and sessions. Missing mail, denied staff access and an unavailable service require investigation of the relevant stage; repeating initial setup cannot solve an already completed installation.
Availability and review¶
The documented experience combines the current backend rules with the newer intended setup screen. The frontend already sends setup requests, but its handling of closure, rate limits and uncertain outcomes needs further work. The design also needs corrections to some setup and activation wording. Those gaps remain open; this draft does not assert that they have been fixed or deployed.
The initial reviewer is the platform owner, who has volunteered to review user and business guidance. That review and environment verification are still pending.