Onboarding

When you first sign in at app.engram.page, Engram asks a few quick questions before opening your vault. Every account starts on the Free plan, so there is no plan to pick and no checkout. You can upgrade any time from Billing.

What setup asks

The steps depend on where you signed up.

On the website:

1. Terms. Accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
2. How you heard about Engram. One question, so we know what is working.
3. Your vault. Tell us whether you use Obsidian. If you do, install the plugin and your notes sync in. If not, name a new vault and we add a sample note so the editor isn’t empty when you arrive.

From the Obsidian plugin: accept the Terms and you return to the plugin link screen. Pick or name your vault there, and your notes sync in.

From a supported AI tool (ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor and others we recognize): accept the Terms and you return to the approval screen. We create a vault called “My Vault” with a sample note in it. Once you approve, your vault opens in a new tab while the AI tool finishes connecting. Other MCP clients get the website steps.

Once you have connected a tool or added notes, the app may ask which AI tools you use and what you want from Engram. These questions are optional, and they only appear after your vault is open.

Why it gates vault access

Every vault API route, including MCP and live sync, checks that you accepted the latest Terms, have a plan (Free counts), answered the setup questions, and have a vault (unless you sync from Obsidian). If not, the API returns 403 with a link to the step that resolves it. You can’t get stuck in a half-set-up state.

Self-host

Self-host has no Terms step and no billing. Setup is the vault step only.

When the terms change

You can’t re-run setup by hand. When the Terms change, you see a notice in the app with a summary of what changed. If the change is material, once it takes effect the app asks you to review and accept the new Terms before you continue. Plan changes happen on the Billing page.