Longtime is in private beta. Here is how an invitation becomes an account, the steps every account goes through before it opens, and what happens the first time you reach your Space.

Longtime is in a private beta, so accounts start with an invitation. After that there are a few steps before you reach your people, and every account goes through the same ones, in the same order.

The waitlist and your invite code

Join the waitlist with your email address. When a place opens up, you will get an email with an invite code and a button to create your account.

On the registration page you will need:

the invite code from the email;
your name, and the email address you joined the waitlist with — the code only works with that address;
a password, with a live checklist of what it needs, typed twice to confirm it;
your timezone, which your device fills in — see Timezones.

Before your account opens

Longtime asks for a few things up front rather than springing them on you later. A progress bar at the top — "Step 2 of 5" — shows where you are, and each time you sign in Longtime takes you to the next one until they are done.

Accept the terms of service. If you agreed to the policies when you joined the waitlist, this step is usually already done — unless they have changed since.
Acknowledge the AI policy. A short page explains where Longtime uses AI — turning what you say into entries, plain-English search, and suggesting where an imported column belongs — and what happens to your words. The full version is the AI notice.
Confirm your email address. Open the link we send; the page moves on by itself once you have. Your email is how you get back in if you forget your password, and how we reach you about your account's security — that is all we use it for.
Add your billing address. It is needed for billing and tax.
Turn on two-factor authentication. Longtime requires a code from an authenticator app every time you sign in. See Profile and security.

If you would rather not agree

The terms and AI pages each have a way out: declining either one closes your account, and nothing is kept.

Your first Space

With the steps done, you set up your Space: give it a name — it starts as your own name; change it to something like your surname or "Family" if you like. You will see it in your Spaces list. Then choose its timezone. See Spaces.

A new Space needs a subscription before it opens, so the next screen is the subscription page. Start the subscription and you go to Stripe's checkout to enter payment details. Your first paid subscription starts with a 7-day free trial — one per customer. If your invitation included a free Space, there is no checkout at all: starting its subscription opens the Space straight away. See Subscription.

Let's get you set up

The first time you open your Space, the dashboard shows two quick steps instead of the usual panels:

Add your first person. The interview opens right there and asks who you would like to tell it about. Just talk about them; Longtime takes care of the details.
Log your first connection. Now describe a moment with them — a call, a coffee, a text — however you like.

Once your Space has someone in it besides you, and at least one connection, the dashboard and the rest of the menu — People, Connections and Bridges — appear.

Bringing everyone in at once

If you already keep your contacts somewhere else, you do not have to add them one by one. First export them from your phone or email as a vCard file. Then, on the step for adding your first person, choose to import them instead. When the import asks what to do with the records, choose to add them straight away (apply), not to send them to Suggestions — you cannot open Suggestions until setup is finished. See Demand Bridges. Imported people count as your first person; you will still log one connection to finish. The interview is for day-to-day use; a file is the way to bring in a whole address book.