# M02-L01 — Accounts, tools, and usage

**Outcome:** Identify chat, agent, and API access and record the selected included-use path.

**Start:** M01 complete; a private place to finish account sign-in.

The selected course path uses browser chat for explanations and Codex in an editor for project work. A subscription sign-in and a separately billed API are different access paths. You do not need an API key in the learner project. Check the current official account controls and available limits rather than assuming that an installed interface grants unlimited use. [Codex pricing](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing)

For the worked setup, identify the editor, extension publisher, sign-in path, and post-login project access. Record installed versions. The edition's bounded Windows ARM pilot verified a dedicated Free account could execute a small Codex task; it does not guarantee uninterrupted access for every learner or every future release. The current official documentation governs changing product controls. [Codex IDE extension](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/codex/ide)

Keep credential entry outside screenshots and recordings. A safe setup demonstration can show the entry screen, explain the omitted private step, and return to a neutral authenticated project view. Browser identity and Git transport identity are separate checks; later lessons verify the actual private repository operation.

Inspect what a request shares. Provide the relevant excerpt or intended project, excluding unrelated material. A prompt asking an agent not to edit is guidance; actual access controls determine permitted actions. In the next lesson, examine the runtime's project scope and tool actions.

If an account limit occurs, save the brief and current files. Use the original reference response for the analysis exercise while continuing local editor, Git, and compiler work. Label that analysis accurately. Do not switch to an unplanned billing path merely to keep a lesson moving. The completion check is a clear setup record naming the route and any remaining dependency.

## Practice and completion

Complete the [exercise](exercise.md), then compare your artifact with the separately distributed instructor answer. A lesson acknowledgment records your own progress; it does not certify that a physical test occurred.

## Reading and figures

[Chapter 4](../../../../book/chapters/ch04/chapter.md). Resources: [Project checkpoint guide](../../../../examples/sensor-monitor/docs/checkpoints.md) and [toolchain setup](../../../../examples/sensor-monitor/docs/setup.md). Figure references: SS04-01–03.