# Lesson 01: GitHub & IDE Setup - Quick Checklist

**⏱️ 25-30 minutes**

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## Part 1: GitHub Account

- [ ] Go to **<https://github.com>**
- [ ] Click **"Sign up"**
- [ ] Enter email, password, username (professional: `yourname-designer`)
- [ ] Verify email
- [ ] ✅ Log in successful

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## Part 2: Create or Join Repository

### Choose Your Scenario

- [ ] **A:** Starting new project → Continue below
- [ ] **B:** Joining existing → Skip to "Join Existing"
- [ ] **C:** Just learning → Skip to Part 3

### Create New Repository

- [ ] Click profile icon → **"Your repositories"** → **"New"**

**Decide: Single or Separate?**

- [ ] **Single repo:** `my-project` (specs + code together, for small teams)
- [ ] **Separate repo:** `my-project-specs` (specs only, for corporate/many devs)

- [ ] Name: `_____________` (lowercase-with-hyphens)
- [ ] Description: One-liner about project
- [ ] Public or Private
- [ ] ☑️ Check "Initialize with README"
- [ ] Click **"Create repository"**
- [ ] ✅ Repository created

### Join Existing Repository

- [ ] Ask owner for access (see full lesson for email template)
- [ ] Accept invitation from email
- [ ] Check repo structure (name, folders)
- [ ] ✅ Access granted

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## Part 3: IDE Installation

### Choose & Download

- [ ] **Cursor** (recommended) → <https://cursor.sh>
- [ ] **VS Code** (alternative) → <https://code.visualstudio.com>
- [ ] Download installer

### Install

- [ ] **Windows:** Run `.exe`, click through
- [ ] **Mac:** Drag to Applications, open
- [ ] **Linux:** Follow distro instructions

### First Launch

- [ ] Choose theme (Light/Dark)
- [ ] Sign in with GitHub → Yes!
- [ ] Install recommended extensions → Yes
- [ ] ✅ IDE open

### Verify Terminal

- [ ] Press **Ctrl+`** (Win/Linux) or **Cmd+`** (Mac)
- [ ] ✅ Terminal panel appears

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## Next Step

✅ GitHub & IDE ready!

**[→ Lesson 02: Git Configuration](../lesson-02-git-setup/checklist.md)**

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**Need more detail?** See [full lesson explanation](lesson.md)