# Launching Designer

After you have successfully installed Express, open the application and you will see the *User Logon screen* as pictured below.

<figure><img src="/files/9XBBDJJY7iD7vSooWG4z" alt="" width="399"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

1. You can skip the log on or proceed with your preferred log on method.
2. Astera offers two methods to create your account:
   * *Sign Up with Microsoft* – Useful for users who have an active Microsoft account. No separate sign-up is required, since your Microsoft account already exists and can be used directly for login.
   * *Sign Up with Email* – Suitable for any other email domains. In this case, you will have to **Create an account** to complete the account creation process. This step is necessary because Email Authentication requires registration in our Azure tenant. Once created, your email is added both to our database and to the Azure directory.

<figure><img src="/files/pZ98553TewalFj2acjSk" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

3. Select your preferred method and go through the MFA steps.
4. Once you have signed up, the designer will launch. You can now start preparing your data.

<figure><img src="/files/QUgPUwfS2sGjkGrSqZYi" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** You will not be able to use the AI Agent or any AI functionality on the client if you haven’t logged in to your Astera account.
{% endhint %}

### Logging in from the designer

1. To log in from the designer, click the profile dropdown <img src="/files/IiNRaxKdPlKT6rh1mzTf" alt="" data-size="line"> and select *Log in*.

<figure><img src="/files/OM1Huxz3E4g3jj6vcLNJ" alt="" width="491"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

2. This will direct you to a login screen where you can provide your user credentials.

<figure><img src="/files/Rzdlxj5F33QcJW8si9ML" alt="" width="396"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

3. After you log in, you can click the *Create New Chat* button<img src="/files/oBCJperfcxSSvaoJGhtJ" alt="" data-size="line">  in the *Dataprep AI Agent* panel to begin chatting with the agent.

<figure><img src="/files/wVAmnk7uw6N8m7gvr3Nw" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://documentation.astera.com/setting-up/express/launching-designer.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.