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Getting started

This page walks you through signing in to TEC ID for the first time, and what you'll see when you get there.

The whole thing takes about thirty seconds. There's no password to set up.

Step 1 — Find your welcome email

When you buy a TEC app, we send a welcome email to the address you used at checkout. The subject line will say something like "Welcome to TEC — your license is ready", and it'll come from noreply@tec.design.

If you don't see it within a few minutes, check your spam folder. (See Troubleshooting if it never arrives.)

[Screenshot: Welcome email in inbox]

Inside the email, there's a button — "Open your TEC ID". Click it.

That link signs you in. No password. No "set up a new account" form. We use what's called a magic link: a one-time link that proves you control the email address. It expires in 15 minutes, and it can only be used once.

If the link expired before you got to it, that's fine — just head to id.tec.design and enter your email. We'll send a fresh one.

[Screenshot: Magic link button inside the email]

Step 3 — Welcome to your dashboard

The first time you sign in, you'll land on your dashboard. Here's what you'll see:

Your licenses

A list of every TEC product on your account. For each one, you'll see:

  • The product name (Moonshine, Starlight, Owlette, etc.)
  • Your license key — a short, copy-pasteable string that starts with the product prefix, like MOON-... or STAR-... or OWLT-...
  • How many seats you have
  • Which devices have used a seat (and a button to release one)

See Licenses and Devices & activations for details.

Your downloads

Direct download links for the latest version of every app you own. Always grab the installer from here — it's the official, signed build.

Your purchase history

Every order you've placed, with links to download tax invoices (helpful if you bought through a company).

[Screenshot: TEC ID dashboard on first sign-in]

Step 4 — Tell us a bit about you (optional)

We don't require much, but adding your name and (if applicable) your company makes your invoices look right and lets us address you properly in support emails.

Head to Your account in the top-right menu. You can fill in:

  • Name — what you'd like to be called
  • Company — if you're buying for a business
  • Billing address — required if you need invoices with VAT/GST or a company name on them

Skip it if you don't need it. You can come back any time. More on this in Your account.

[Screenshot: Account profile form]

Step 5 — Activate the app on your computer

Now that you've got your license key, jump over to the app you bought and paste it in:

Each app handles activation a little differently because they run in different environments, but the idea is the same: paste the key, the app talks to TEC ID, and you're activated on that machine.

Signing in again, later

To sign in again on any device — your phone, a laptop, anything with a browser — just go to id.tec.design and enter your email. We'll send a fresh magic link.

You don't need to be signed in on the web for the apps to keep working. Once an app is activated on a computer, it runs on its own. The web portal is for managing your account.

What if I bought before TEC ID existed?

If you're a long-time customer of one of our apps, you may have a license key but no TEC ID yet. No problem — go to id.tec.design, enter the email you used when you bought, and we'll send a magic link to claim your existing license. Your purchases will appear in your dashboard automatically.

If the email you bought with no longer works, email support@tec.design with as much detail as you can give us (license key, approximate purchase date, app name) and we'll help you recover it.

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