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# Passport onboard guide

This guide walks you through setting up Passport: deploying the Passport Proxy, configuring a namespace in Passport Cloud, and installing the Passport CLI. Each section links to a full walkthrough.

Passport has the following components:

| Component      | Runs on          | What it does                                             |
| -------------- | ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Passport Proxy | Your environment | Proxies and logs API traffic.                            |
| Passport app   | Passport Cloud   | Enables secret reference issuance and secret resolution. |
| Passport CLI   | Your machine     | Provides the developer-side CLI and daemons.             |

> **Info**
>
> If you aren't ready for a production deployment, you can evaluate Passport first. The [Passport plugin](/passport/reference/passport-plugin/overview/) lets your coding agent [set up a proxy](/passport/reference/passport-plugin/work-with-agent/set-up-a-proxy/), so you can see the end-to-end flow.

## Passport Proxy

The [Passport Proxy](/passport/get-started/basics/concepts/#passport-proxy) runs in your Kubernetes environment, proxying and logging API traffic. Its image and Helm chart come from the Passport registry, and you configure the values file that controls how it's deployed.

For the full walkthrough — generating a registry credential, pulling the image and chart, configuring `values.yaml`, and deploying with Helm — see [Deploy the Passport Proxy](/passport/set-up/deploy-passport-proxy/).

## Passport app

The Passport app on Passport Cloud is where you create your account, register the proxy, set up a namespace and its resources, and invite your team. [Namespaces](/passport/get-started/basics/concepts/#namespace) enable [secret reference](/passport/get-started/basics/concepts/#secret-reference) issuance and revocation, and map API endpoints to [resources](/passport/get-started/basics/concepts/#resource). The proxy keeps logging traffic without them.

1. [Create a Passport account](/passport/get-started/sign-up/).
2. [Register the Passport Proxy](/passport/set-up/set-up-proxy/) you deployed earlier.
3. [Create a namespace](/passport/set-up/create-namespace/) and [add resources](/passport/set-up/add-resources/) to it.
4. [Invite team members](/passport/administer/manage-your-team/#manage-team-members).
5. Optionally, [set up SSO](/passport/administer/set-up-sso/) so your team can sign in with your organization's identity provider.

## Passport CLI

The CLI installs on your machine and runs the developer-side daemons that route your requests through the proxy.

To learn how to install and set up the CLI, see [Connect to the Passport Proxy](/passport/use/connect-to-proxy/). Once it's running, you can issue and resolve secret references.

## Next steps

Once your team can access the namespace, Members can [request access to an API](/passport/use/request-api-access/).

For the complete lifecycle — from setup through requesting, calling, and revoking API access — see [End-to-end flow](/passport/get-started/basics/end-to-end-flow/).