crux

Getting started

The setup wizard

Nine short steps the first time crux opens. crux remembers where you stopped.

The first time crux opens, the setup wizard walks you through nine short steps. The step list on the left shows each one: done, needs attention, or not yet. You can stop with Finish later and pick up where you left off; crux remembers. Later, reopen it from Settings > Connections & setup > Setup checklist > Open the setup wizard. You can change any step; your progress is kept.

1. License key

Type your key and click Activate, or click Buy crux. See Your license key.

2. Claude Code

crux works through Claude Code with your own Claude subscription. Click Install Claude Code if it is missing, then Sign in to Claude Code. See Claude Code and your sign-in.

3. Document tools

crux downloads the tools Claude Code uses to write Word, PDF and Excel files for you, straight from their publishers. This takes a few minutes. Click Download and install on each line that needs it. LibreOffice lets crux show your estimate and proposal inside the app; it is optional but recommended. If a download stops, check the internet connection and click Try again.

4. Company & you

Just what your letters need: your company's name, logo, mailing address, office phone and office email, and your own name, title and email. Click Save and continue, or Do this later.

Did a coworker send you a company profile file? Click I have a company profile file instead. It fills in the company details, logo, rates, templates and company knowledge; you add only your own name, title and email. See Your company profile.

5. Templates

The estimate and proposal crux fills in for you. Click Use the crux default, or Upload my own to use the estimate spreadsheet your company already uses. See Templates.

6. Rates (optional)

Your labor rates, material prices and production rates. Until you add your own, crux uses its defaults and marks them as budget numbers.

  • Have rate files? Point crux at the folder: click Import a folder…. crux reads every file in it, sorts the labor rates, material prices and production rates, and shows you what it found before anything is saved.
  • Or open Labor rates, Material prices or Production rates and add them one list at a time.

Click Next when you are done, or Skip for now. See Labor rates, Materials and Production rates.

7. Email & calendar

crux can list your bids on the Bid Board from invites and calendar events. It reads them through your own Claude Code account, which connects to Microsoft or Google. crux never sees your password, and it only reads.

  1. Click Yes, connect email and calendar (or No, not now).
  2. Pick Microsoft (Outlook and Microsoft 365) or Google (Gmail and Google Calendar).
  3. Click Open the connector settings. Your browser opens your Claude account's settings. Sign in with the same account you use for Claude Code if it asks.
  4. Open Settings, then Connectors.
    • Microsoft: find Microsoft 365, click Connect, sign in with your work Microsoft account and click Accept.
    • Google: find Gmail and click Connect, sign in and click Allow. Do the same for Google Calendar.
  5. Come back to crux and click I’ve connected it.

If your Claude account is shared with other people, there is an advanced option to connect Microsoft 365 on this computer only. See Connections & setup.

8. Your bids folder

Where your bid folders live. Each bid gets its own folder inside this one. Click Use Documents\Crux\Bids (crux makes it for you), or Choose a different folder…. You can pick a different folder for any bid later.

9. Health check

A last check that everything answers: crux's own tools, your Claude Code sign-in, disk space and your license. Click Run the health check. If something is wrong, Fix it usually sorts it out. When it says Everything is ready., click Open crux.