# Hands-On Walk Through of Community Edition

This walk through builds on [Setting Up Community Edition](/latest/getting-started/quickstart.md).

It helps you get from first sign-in to a working environment.

The local stack starts:

* **Lenses HQ** for the UI and control plane
* **Lenses Agent** for secure connectivity
* **Kafka services** for local exploration
* **Postgres** for persistent storage

### What you will do

In this walk through, you will:

1. Sign in to Community Edition
2. Learn the basic layout
3. Open a demo environment or add your own
4. Inspect environment health
5. Search for topics and resources

{% hint style="info" %}
If you used the Docker quick start, a demo environment may already exist.

If you used Helm or a manual install, add your own environment first.
{% endhint %}

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Sign in to Community Edition

Open [http://localhost:9991](http://localhost:9991/).

Sign in with:

```
Username: admin
Password: admin
```

On first sign-in, you may need to:

1. Enter your access code
2. Accept the [Terms of Use](https://lenses.io/legals/terms-and-conditions)
3. Accept the [Privacy Policy](https://lenses.io/legals/policy)
   {% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Learn the basic layout

Lenses uses an IDE-style layout.

* Use the **explorer** to browse environments and resources
* Use the **workspace** to open tabs and inspect data
* Use the top bar for search and setup actions

This page focuses on the first-run flow.

For a full guide to navigation and daily workflows, use the [Lenses User Guide](https://docs.lenses.io/latest/user-guide).
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Open a demo environment or add your own

Lenses has two main components:

* **HQ** manages users, environments, and workflows
* **Agent** runs near Kafka and connects HQ to your services

Community Edition supports up to two Kafka environments.

If the Docker quick start already created a demo environment, open it from the explorer. Then continue to the next step.

If you do not have an environment yet, create one now.

#### Create a new environment

Before you start, have these ready:

* Kafka bootstrap servers
* Authentication details
* Schema Registry URL, if used
* Kafka Connect URL, if used

You can create a new environment in three ways;

From the environment listing page 

<figure><img src="/files/xNMUD3SqgliKEQxvCQqH" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

From the navigation tree action buttons

<figure><img src="/files/OHs4g5cfQfdvqsugDijj" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

From the landing page.

<figure><img src="/files/yZ2Y3kPT8jzHIqfNJRLP" alt="" width="334"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Enter an environment name.

You can also add:

* a short description
* a domain
* an environment tier

Then click **Create environment**.

<figure><img src="/files/KFleyf6RvDHk3Nmto676" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Lenses then opens the Agent deployment screen. Copy the generated command for **Docker** or **Helm**. Run it where the Agent will be deployed.

<figure><img src="/files/4nxgHa6P8lpcSyXqwb1B" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="success" %}
Agent startup can take up to a minute.
{% endhint %}

When the Agent is ready, continue to configuration.

<figure><img src="/files/gNL7MkcKmgunPiYtZgSM" alt="" width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Define connectivity for Kafka, Schema Registry, and Kafka Connect. The YAML preview updates as you edit the form.

<figure><img src="/files/Jn2gUodIb0s8QVkcDeaT" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
After the Agent starts, download the generated `provisioning.yaml`. Keep it for future changes or automation.
{% endhint %}

Add the required values. Then click **Test**.

<figure><img src="/files/0eHR3vPrHSjgnsI7g50V" alt="" width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
Testing shows what will be added, changed, or removed before you apply it.
{% endhint %}

If validation succeeds, Lenses shows a confirmation.

<figure><img src="/files/nypixhYr2nVbZDAgH5TH" alt="" width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Click **Apply to Agent**.

You should now see the environment as connected.

<figure><img src="/files/ZidMby9oGZRlkZOB01fS" alt="" width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

For a full deployment flow against your own infrastructure, see [Connecting Lenses to your Kafka environment](/latest/getting-started/connecting-lenses-to-your-environment.md).
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Inspect environment health

Open the environment overview to check connection status and available services.

<figure><img src="/files/kEsR65bk2srLEd1r2I0j" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

From there, drill into:

* **Kafka** for topics, brokers, and consumer groups
* **Schema Registry** for schema subjects and versions
* **Kafka Connect** for connectors, tasks, and status

This is the fastest way to confirm that the Agent can reach every configured service.

If one service is missing, return to the Agent configuration and retest it.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Explore your environment

Once the agent is up and connect, it will start connecting to your Kafka broker and other services. It may take a minute for the agent to index the topics and schemas.

Once up, you can explore topics, apps from the left side bar and navigation panels.

The search on the left allows your to search across all resources, results are actionable, e.g. query data

<figure><img src="/files/cqmCa2jA0INrCSbmObsu" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

### Next steps

You now have a working Community Edition setup and a connected environment.

Next, you can:

* learn the product in more depth in the [Lenses User Guide](https://docs.lenses.io/latest/user-guide)
* connect another Kafka environment
* refine the Agent configuration
* explore more deployment options in [Connecting Lenses to your Kafka environment](/latest/getting-started/connecting-lenses-to-your-environment.md)


---

# 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://docs.lenses.io/latest/getting-started/quickstart/hands-on-walk-through-of-community-edition.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.