Getting Started

1. Install

  1. Download Sentinel-1.0.0.dmg from your purchase confirmation email.
  2. Open the DMG and drag Sentinel to /Applications.
  3. Launch Sentinel from Applications. macOS may show a security dialog on first open — click Open.

2. Activate your license

  1. Open Sentinel and click Settings in the sidebar.
  2. Paste your license key into the License field and click Activate.
  3. The status badge changes to Active within a few seconds.

Your license key is in the purchase confirmation email from LemonSqueezy.

3. Add your Anthropic API key

Sentinel's LearnWatch pipeline uses your own Anthropic key — we never see or proxy it.

  1. Go to Settings → Anthropic Key.
  2. Paste your key (starts with sk-ant-).
  3. Sentinel stores it in your macOS Keychain — it never leaves your machine.

4. Run your first scan

Sentinel's scanners run automatically when Claude Code edits files via hooks. To run a manual scan:

  1. Open Scanners in the sidebar.
  2. All 5 default scanners (CodeWatch, SecurityWatch, TestWatch, GapWatch, PerformanceWatch) are enabled.
  3. Click View findings on any scanner to see its results in the Issues tab.

5. Read the Ship-Readiness Dashboard

The landing tab shows files touched in your current Claude Code session, findings by severity, and a safety rating for each project. Green means safe to ship; red means at least one P0 issue is open. See Ship-Readiness for a full walkthrough.