First 15 Minutes
Status: PUBLIC_CONTRACT_DRAFT. This guide describes the evaluator path. Steps may be gated or sandbox-only depending on environment. Not a production-live claim. See How Zen Works for the complete mental model.
Before You Start
- You need a Zen Mesh account (Free Forever tier — no credit card required)
- This guide uses the UI (dashboard) first, then points to the API and MCP
1. Log In
Open the Zen Mesh dashboard and sign in. The dashboard is the primary interface for evaluation.
2. Explore the Navigation
| Sidebar section | What you'll find |
|---|---|
| Connect | Endpoints, templates, targets, flows |
| Traffic | Deliveries, attempts, DLQ, retry, replay, traces, payloads |
| Trust | Evidence |
| Settings | API keys, MCP configuration |
3. Understand What Exists
In a fresh account you may see:
- No endpoints yet — you need to create one
- No targets yet — you need to create one
- No flows yet — they connect endpoints to targets
- No delivery traffic yet — traffic appears when events flow
See Zen Mesh Concepts for definitions.
4. Create or Inspect a Target
Navigate to Connect → Targets. If creation is available:
- Click Create Target
- Enter a name and a destination URL
- Save
If creation is gated in your environment, the API may be your path. See Targets API.
5. Create or Inspect an Endpoint
Navigate to Connect → Endpoints. An endpoint is a webhook source receiver. Choose a template (Stripe, GitHub, Custom) or create a generic endpoint.
6. Create or Inspect a Flow
Navigate to Connect → Flows. A flow links an endpoint to a target with optional filters and transforms.
7. Inspect Traffic
Navigate to Traffic → Deliveries. If events have flowed, you will see delivery attempts. Each attempt shows:
- Status (delivered, failed, pending)
- Event ID
- Target
- Timestamp
8. Inspect DLQ
Navigate to Traffic → DLQ. Failed deliveries appear here. You can retry failed deliveries from this view.
9. Inspect Traces and Payloads
Navigate to Traffic → Traces and Traffic → Payloads.
- Traces show the delivery/evidence spine (not full distributed tracing)
- Payloads show saved test/template payloads (not production retained payload history)
10. Inspect Evidence
Navigate to Trust → Evidence. Evidence is cryptographic delivery proof with integrity verification.
11. Where API and MCP Fit
| Surface | Path to Programming |
|---|---|
| Customer API | API Quickstart — for developers and CI/CD |
| MCP | MCP Overview — for AI agents and operators |
Customer API and MCP are not globally read-only. Writes are permissioned at the endpoint/tool-group level.
12. Current Status
| Capability | Status |
|---|---|
| Endpoint/target/flow CRUD | WIRED_SANDBOX |
| Delivery inspection | WIRED_SANDBOX |
| DLQ/Retry | WIRED_SANDBOX |
| Replay | WIRED_SANDBOX (requires retained payload context) |
| Saved Payloads | WIRED_SANDBOX (test templates only) |
| Evidence | WIRED_SANDBOX |
| API key management | WIRED_SANDBOX |
| MCP read tools | PUBLIC_CONTRACT_DRAFT (default-on) |
| MCP write tools | PUBLIC_CONTRACT_DRAFT (disabled by default) |
| Customer API GA | PLANNED |
| Billing/Plan | INTERNAL_ONLY (non-live) |
See Current Status for the full matrix.
Non-Claims
- This is an evaluator guide, not a production operations runbook
- Some creation actions may be gated or sandbox-only depending on environment
- No production-live, GA, or billing-live claim
- Saved payloads are not production retained payload history
- Replay gated by retained payload availability
- Evidence is sandbox/local validated, not production cloud proof