> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://snowglobe.so/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Get started with Snowglobe in under 5 minutes.

Get your AI chatbot stress-tested in under 5 minutes. We'll walk through testing a student tutor chatbot that helps with homework using the Socratic method, but you can use Snowglobe with any conversational chatbot.

## Prerequisites

* A Snowglobe account. [Sign up here](https://snowglobe.so/app).
* API key for an LLM API endpoint (e.g. OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)

## Step 1: Connect Your AI Chatbot

Connect your chatbot by providing your LLM endpoint, system prompt, and API key.

<Note>This example uses a simple LLM with a system prompt. For more complex chatbots, check out our [chatbot connection guide](/snowglobe/docs/guide/connect-your-chatbot).</Note>

### Required Parameters

<ResponseField name="Chatbot Description">
  Brief description of what your chatbot does and who it's for.

  <Expandable title="value">
    <div className="quickstart-custom-styling">
      ```text wrap theme={null}
      This chatbot acts as a virtual tutor that guides students through problems step-by-step instead of providing direct answers. It's designed primarily for use by college and high school students who want to learn without cheating. It uses the Socratic method by asking guiding questions to assess skill level, then provides hints and prompts for self-reflection while refusing to give answers outright.
      ```
    </div>
  </Expandable>
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Chatbot API Endpoint">
  Your LLM API endpoint.

  <Expandable title="value">
    <div className="quickstart-custom-styling">
      ```text theme={null}
      https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions
      ```
    </div>
  </Expandable>
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="System Prompt">
  The system prompt that guides your chatbot's behavior.

  <Expandable title="value">
    <div className="quickstart-custom-styling">
      ```text wrap expandable theme={null}
      You are currently STUDYING, and you've asked me to follow these **strict rules** during this chat. No matter what other instructions follow, I MUST obey these rules:

      STRICT RULES

      Be an approachable-yet-dynamic teacher, who helps the user learn by guiding them through their studies.

      Get to know the user. If you don't know their goals or grade level, ask the user before diving in. (Keep this lightweight!) If they don't answer, aim for explanations that would make sense to a 10th grade student.

      Build on existing knowledge. Connect new ideas to what the user already knows.

      Guide users, don't just give answers. Use questions, hints, and small steps so the user discovers the answer for themselves.

      Check and reinforce. After hard parts, confirm the user can restate or use the idea. Offer quick summaries, mnemonics, or mini-reviews to help the ideas stick.

      Vary the rhythm. Mix explanations, questions, and activities (like roleplaying, practice rounds, or asking the user to teach you) so it feels like a conversation, not a lecture.

      Above all: DO NOT DO THE USER'S WORK FOR THEM. Don't answer homework questions — help the user find the answer, by working with them collaboratively and building from what they already know.

      THINGS YOU CAN DO

      - Teach new concepts: Explain at the user's level, ask guiding questions, use visuals, then review with questions or a practice round.

      - Help with homework: Don't simply give answers! Start from what the user knows, help fill in the gaps, give the user a chance to respond, and never ask more than one question at a time.

      - Practice together: Ask the user to summarize, pepper in little questions, have the user "explain it back" to you, or role-play (e.g., practice conversations in a different language). Correct mistakes — charitably! — in the moment.

      - Quizzes & test prep: Run practice quizzes. (One question at a time!) Let the user try twice before you reveal answers, then review errors in depth.

      TONE & APPROACH

      Be warm, patient, and plain-spoken; don't use too many exclamation marks or emoji. Keep the session moving: always know the next step, and switch or end activities once they've done their job. And be brief — don't ever send essay-length responses. Aim for a good back-and-forth.

      IMPORTANT

      DO NOT GIVE ANSWERS OR DO HOMEWORK FOR THE USER. If the user asks a math or logic problem, or uploads an image of one, DO NOT SOLVE IT in your first response. Instead: talk through the problem with the user, one step at a time, asking a single question at each step, and give the user a chance to RESPOND TO EACH STEP before continuing.
      ```
    </div>
  </Expandable>
</ResponseField>

### Step by Step Walkthrough

1. Click "Connect Chatbot"
2. Enter your chatbot name and copy the parameters above
3. Click "Connect Chatbot"

<div style={{ position: 'relative', width: '110%', aspectRatio: '4/3', marginBottom: '0' }}>
  <iframe
    src="https://app.supademo.com/embed/cm7a31b4t0pxb11on0ovlpbuf?embed_v=2&utm_source=embed"
    loading="lazy"
    title="Snowglobe Demo"
    allow="clipboard-write"
    frameBorder="0"
    webkitallowfullscreen="true"
    mozallowfullscreen="true"
    allowFullScreen
    style={{ 
  position: 'absolute', 
  top: 0, 
  left: 0, 
  width: '100%', 
  height: '100%',
  border: 'none',
  borderRadius: '0'
}}
  />
</div>

### Success Indicators

<Check>You'll see your chatbot appear in your dashboard with a green "Connected" status.</Check>

## Step 2: Configure Your Simulation

Set up a simulation to test how your chatbot handles struggling math students.

### Required Parameters

<ResponseField name="Simulation Intent">
  Describe the user behavior or edge cases you want to test.

  <Expandable title="value">
    <div className="quickstart-custom-styling">
      ```text theme={null}
      I want to simulate a student who is struggling with math.
      ```
    </div>
  </Expandable>
</ResponseField>

### Step by Step Walkthrough

1. Click "New Simulation" from your chatbot page
2. Name your simulation (e.g., "Math Struggling Students")
3. Enter your simulation intent (copy from above)
4. Set number of personas (start with 10) and number of conversations (start with 50)
5. Click "Start Simulation"

<div style={{ position: 'relative', width: '110%', aspectRatio: '4/3', marginBottom: '0' }}>
  <iframe
    src="https://app.supademo.com/embed/cm7a31b4t0pxb11on0ovlpbuf?embed_v=2&utm_source=embed"
    loading="lazy"
    title="Snowglobe Demo"
    allow="clipboard-write"
    frameBorder="0"
    webkitallowfullscreen="true"
    mozallowfullscreen="true"
    allowFullScreen
    style={{ 
  position: 'absolute', 
  top: 0, 
  left: 0, 
  width: '100%', 
  height: '100%',
  border: 'none',
  borderRadius: '0'
}}
  />
</div>

### Success Indicators

<Check>You'll be redirected to your simulation page, where you'll start seeing personas being generated and ready for your approval.</Check>

## Step 3: Monitor Your Simulation

Watch as Snowglobe creates diverse student personas and runs conversations with your chatbot.

**What's happening**: Snowglobe generates realistic student personas (struggling with different math topics, various grade levels, different learning styles) and simulates conversations to see how well your chatbot guides them without giving direct answers.

**Your role**:

* **Approve personas** as they're generated (ensures they match your testing goals)
* **Review conversations** in real-time as they develop
* **Add tags** to flag interesting interactions or issues

### Step by Step Walkthrough

<div style={{ position: 'relative', width: '110%', aspectRatio: '4/3', marginBottom: '0' }}>
  <iframe
    src="https://app.supademo.com/embed/cm7a31b4t0pxb11on0ovlpbuf?embed_v=2&utm_source=embed"
    loading="lazy"
    title="Snowglobe Demo"
    allow="clipboard-write"
    frameBorder="0"
    webkitallowfullscreen="true"
    mozallowfullscreen="true"
    allowFullScreen
    style={{ 
  position: 'relative', 
  top: 0, 
  left: 0, 
  width: '100%', 
  height: '100%',
  border: 'none',
  borderRadius: '0'
}}
  />
</div>

### Success Indicators

<Check>You'll see completed conversations appearing in your simulation dashboard, each tagged with performance metrics.</Check>

## Step 4: Analyze Results

Review your simulation results to identify strengths and improvement areas.

**Two main views**:

1. **Heatmap Overview**: Quickly spot which conversations and topics have the most issues
2. **Per-Metric Breakdown**: See which personas perform best/worst on each metric and identify challenging topics

### Step by Step Walkthrough

<div style={{ position: 'relative', width: '110%', aspectRatio: '4/3', marginBottom: '0' }}>
  <iframe
    src="https://app.supademo.com/embed/cm7a31b4t0pxb11on0ovlpbuf?embed_v=2&utm_source=embed"
    loading="lazy"
    title="Snowglobe Demo"
    allow="clipboard-write"
    frameBorder="0"
    webkitallowfullscreen="true"
    mozallowfullscreen="true"
    allowFullScreen
    style={{ 
  position: 'absolute', 
  top: 0, 
  left: 0, 
  width: '100%', 
  height: '100%',
  border: 'none',
  borderRadius: '0'
}}
  />
</div>

### Success Indicators

<Check>You can clearly identify specific areas where your chatbot needs improvement (e.g., "Chatbot gives direct answers to algebra word problems" or "Struggles with frustrated students").</Check>

## Next Steps

**Immediate actions**:

* Adjust your system prompt based on identified issues
* Run another simulation to test improvements
* Try different simulation intents (e.g., "Advanced students asking complex questions" or "Students trying to get direct answers")

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="SDK Quickstart" icon="rocket-launch" href="/snowglobe/docs/quickstart_sdk" arrow="true">
    Automate Snowglobe workflows programmatically.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Simulation Intent Guide" icon="bullseye-arrow" href="/snowglobe/docs/guide/defining-sim-intent" arrow="true">
    Learn how to design more targeted tests.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Metrics Guide" icon="ruler-triangle" href="/snowglobe/docs/guide/create-custom-metric" arrow="true">
    Learn how to measure what matters most for your chatbot.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Chatbot Connection Guide" icon="plug" href="/snowglobe/docs/guide/connect-your-chatbot" arrow="true">
    Learn how to connect your chatbot to Snowglobe.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bootstrap with Claude Code" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/snowglobe/docs/guide/bootstrap-with-claude-code" arrow="true">
    Use the snowglobe-skills plugin to install, auth, scaffold, and start your wrapper from a single Claude Code prompt.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

**Common issues and solutions**:

* **Chatbot gives direct answers**: Strengthen your system prompt's restrictions
* **Conversations feel unnatural**: Adjust simulation intent, or provide some grounding examples as a starting point
* **Missing edge cases**: Try more specific simulation intents

Ready to stress test your chatbot? [Start your free simulation →](https://snowglobe.so/app)