> ## Documentation Index
>
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://lithi.ai/llms.txt
>
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

---
title: Set up a solo Compute account
description: >-
  Create or resume one Compute account, protect a single scoped identity, and configure
  only the resources your first chosen workflow needs. No organization setup and no
  directory sync required.
route: /docs/compute/configure/solo-account
page_id: docs-compute-configure-solo-account
page_type: howTo
content_layer: guided documentation
surface_profile: guided_docs
audience: Individual Compute customers setting up their own account
voice: D
reader_question: How do I set up a Compute account for myself, without organization overhead?
primary_action: Plan, apply and read back a change
source_locale: en-US
source_status: APPROVED
source_version: docs-compute-configure-solo-account-en-us-2026-09-05-v1
last_updated: '2026-09-05'
robots: index
claim_registry_pinned: true
claim_registry_resync: "npm run governed:tsx -- scripts/build-compute-public-claim-registry.ts --write"
---

## Before you start

Pick one workflow first. The workflow decides which resources you need, so configuring anything before that choice is guesswork.

You need one email address you control and one input you are allowed to send. You do not need an organization, a directory connection or a warehouse.

## Create or resume the account explicitly

Compute never resumes an account for you on a guess. Say which you want.

1. Ask to create a new account, or to resume an existing one by its account reference.
2. Confirm the legal name and the billing contact shown back to you.
3. Read back the account resource before you continue.

If the read-back shows an account you did not expect, stop. Resuming the wrong account attaches your spend to someone else's ceiling.

## Protect one scoped identity

A solo account needs exactly one personal identity and one work key. Keep it that way until a second workflow forces a second key.

Plan the key, create it, then store the plaintext value immediately. The plaintext is shown once and is never shown again. If you lose it, rotate the key rather than asking support to recover it.

Your work key carries work scopes only. Management scopes are never mintable on a work key, so the same key cannot quietly administer your account.

## Configure only what the workflow requires

Work through the workflow descriptor and register the matching resources, nothing more.

1. Set a spend ceiling you are comfortable with before any run.
2. Register the one source the workflow reads.
3. Register a destination only if the workflow writes results somewhere other than your download.
4. Skip projects, identity sync and profiles until a real need appears.

A ceiling is not optional in practice. Without one, nothing checks admission against a number you chose.

## Confirm what success looks like

Read every applied resource back. Each one should return `VERIFIED`, and the change as a whole should return `COMPLETE`.

A resource that returns `ALREADY_MATCHED` is also fine. It means the desired value was already in place and nothing changed.

You are ready when the account, the identity, the ceiling and the source all read back, and your work key answers a status call.

## If something refuses

A refused resource returns `REFUSED` with a reason and a next action. Read both before retrying, because a retry with the same input refuses the same way.

`CONFLICT` means the resource moved since your plan was made. Re-inspect, plan again, and apply the new plan. `RETRYABLE` means the same apply is safe to send again.

Re-applying a change you already applied returns its prior verified result. Repeating an apply after a timeout is safe.

[Plan, apply and read back a change](/docs/compute/configure/plan-apply-read-back)
