First launch

The first time you open MicroLab you go through a few one-time steps. After that, the app remembers where you were and starts straight into your last section and scenario.

1. Accept the terms

Before entering, MicroLab asks you to accept the Terms of use and the Privacy policy. Each acceptance is recorded with its version and date as proof of consent. If the terms change in the future, you’ll be asked to accept them again.

2. Sign in

If the project has sign-in configured, you enter with your account. Your session determines your capabilities:

• app — the desktop application (free).
• cli, mcp, chat — the microlab CLI, the MCP server and the copilot, which are paid, independent capabilities.

By signing in at least once, the app makes the CLI and the MCP available on your machine according to your capabilities. In projects without sign-in, there are no restrictions.

3. Diagnostics notice

MicroLab automatically sends anonymous reports of its own errors and unexpected crashes to help fix bugs. It is on by default and you can turn it off at any time in Settings → Privacy.

Your microservices’ logs and business data are never sent: only MicroLab’s own errors, with secrets and user paths redacted before sending.

4. Prepare the workspace

MicroLab looks for your micros’ repositories in a base folder, the workspace. By default it is the folder that contains the app itself; if your repos are elsewhere, point to it in Settings → Paths → Workspace.

There too you can choose the docker-compose (the one bundled with MicroLab, recommended, or your own) and the mock server port.

Done

When you finish you’ll see the list of scenarios and Docker’s status. Continue with Your first scenario in 5 minutes.