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Quickstart

Create an account, prepay, run Excel, Word and PowerPoint, then download your work and stop the computer.

Use Bash, curl, jq, an API-readable inbox and an authorized Stripe SPT or USDC wallet on Base. Checkout requires a browser. Keep response files for recovery. API: https://api.usepanes.com. Operator: Renaissance Superintelligence Corporation.

1. Check availability before paying

umask 077
export PANES_API=https://api.usepanes.com
curl --fail-with-body -sS "$PANES_API/v1/catalog" -o catalog.json
jq '{prices, payment_methods, templates}' catalog.json
jq -e '.templates | any(.office_ready == true)' catalog.json

For an Office task, continue only when a template has office_ready: true. apps says what is installed; office_ready says first-boot activation has been verified. If none is ready, Office provisioning is unavailable. Adding credit does not activate Office.

2. Create your account and key

# EMAIL is an address your agent can read through its inbox API.
export SIGNUP_STARTED_AT="$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
jq -n --arg email "$EMAIL" '{email:$email,key_name:"Office agent"}' > signup-request.json
curl --fail-with-body -sS "$PANES_API/v1/signup" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' --data-binary @signup-request.json -o challenge.json

# Read the six-digit code from that inbox. The auth chapter has an AgentMail example.
jq -n --arg id "$(jq -r .challenge_id challenge.json)" --arg code "$CODE" \
  '{challenge_id:$id,code:$code}' > verification.json
curl --fail-with-body -sS "$PANES_API/v1/signup/verify" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' --data-binary @verification.json -o account-key.json
export PANES_API_KEY="$(jq -er .key account-key.json)"
rm verification.json

The reply contains your key once. Store it in your secret store. Signup grants no credit. Email codes expire after 10 minutes and allow five attempts. Authentication and recovery.

3. Prepay

Funding contains complete requests for Stripe MPP and USDC x402, including signing a USDC authorization through an agent wallet's HTTP interface.

export TOPUP_REQUEST_KEY="office-credit-$(date +%s)-$RANDOM"
curl --fail-with-body -sS "$PANES_API/v1/topups" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PANES_API_KEY" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $TOPUP_REQUEST_KEY" \
  -d '{"amount_cents":1000,"method":"usdc_x402"}' -o topup.json

Authorize this exact quote using the funding instructions, then poll its status_url until status is paid. A pending or ambiguous payment is not a reason to pay again. Credit is prepaid, in USD, at full face value.

4. Start a computer

export TEMPLATE="$(jq -er '.templates[] | select(.office_ready == true) | .id' catalog.json | head -1)"
export COMPUTER_REQUEST_KEY="office-computer-$(date +%s)-$RANDOM"
jq -n --arg template "$TEMPLATE" \
  '{template:$template,name:"office-report",auto_stop_minutes:15,prevent_cloning:true,require_office_ready:true}' > computer-request.json
curl --fail-with-body -sS "$PANES_API/v1/machines" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PANES_API_KEY" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $COMPUTER_REQUEST_KEY" \
  --data-binary @computer-request.json -o computer.json
export ID="$(jq -er .id computer.json)"
curl --fail-with-body -sS "$PANES_API/v1/machines/$ID/health" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PANES_API_KEY"

A successful create returns a running computer. For a lost create reply, GET /v1/machine-requests/$COMPUTER_REQUEST_KEY; reuse the original request key and body. Check resume_warning before continuing recovered work.

5. Finish a real Office task

This task builds an Excel workbook with formulas and a native chart, a Word summary and a PowerPoint presentation with an editable chart.

curl --fail-with-body -sS https://usepanes.com/examples/office-report.ps1 -o office-report.ps1
curl --fail-with-body -sS -X PUT \
  "$PANES_API/v1/machines/$ID/files?path=C%3A%2Fwork%2Foffice-report.ps1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PANES_API_KEY" --data-binary @office-report.ps1
curl --fail-with-body -sS "$PANES_API/v1/machines/$ID/exec" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PANES_API_KEY" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"script":"& C:/work/office-report.ps1","desktop":true,"timeout_s":180}' -o task.json
jq -e '.exit_code == 0 and (.timed_out != true)' task.json
jq -r .stdout task.json
for FILE in report.xlsx summary.docx presentation.pptx verification.json; do
  curl --fail-with-body -sS --get "$PANES_API/v1/machines/$ID/files" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $PANES_API_KEY" --data-urlencode "path=C:/work/$FILE" -o "$FILE"
done
curl --fail-with-body -sS "$PANES_API/v1/machines/$ID/screenshot" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PANES_API_KEY" -o desktop.png
curl --fail-with-body -sS -X POST "$PANES_API/v1/machines/$ID/stop" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PANES_API_KEY" -o stopped.json
jq -e '.state == "stopped"' stopped.json
curl --fail-with-body -sS "$PANES_API/v1/usage" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PANES_API_KEY" -o usage.json

Office automation requires desktop: true. HTTP 200 does not mean a command succeeded: check exit_code, stderr and timed_out. If its reply is lost, inspect C:/work/verification.json and the output files before repeating it. Stop the computer even if the task fails. A stop keeps its files; a delete erases them.