From install to your first answer.
Five steps, a few minutes. You don’t need an account to try it.
1. Install Shard
Get Shard from the Roblox Creator Store and install it in Studio. Then open any place. A new Baseplate is fine for a first try.
- Explorerwhat’s in your place
- Propertieswhat each thing is set to
- Outputwhat your code printed
- Command barrun one line of Luau
- Shardnot installed yet
2. Find it in Studio
Open the Plugins tab. The Shard toolbar has two buttons, Chat and Settings. Press a button again to close its window.
Both windows dock on the left by default. Drag them anywhere, like any Studio panel.
- Explorer
- Properties
- Output
- Command bar
- Shardinstalled
- Chatopens the Shard Chat window
- Settingsopens Shard Settings
3. Sign in, or continue as a guest
The first time you open Chat, you see the sign-in screen. Pick one of three ways in.
Shard-hosted models, Codex (ChatGPT) and Claude Code need a Shard account. You can sign in later from Settings, then Account.
- Sign in
- With your username or your email, and your password.
- Create account
- If you’re new. A username is 3 to 20 letters, numbers or underscores.
- Continue as a guest
- Press the guest button to skip accounts. Guests can use every provider that takes your own API key.
4. Pick a provider and a model
Open Settings, then AI. A fresh install has no provider selected, so the chat can’t send until you pick one.
- Providers
- Choose where your AI comes from.
- API Key
- If the provider needs a key, paste it into the box and click outside it. The box says “Key saved!”.
- Models
- Choose a model. The list comes from Shard’s model catalog.
- Reasoning
- Shows up only when the model supports it. “Default” lets the provider decide.
5. Send your first message
Type in the box at the bottom of the Chat window and press Enter. Start with a question about your place, then ask for something to build:
“Make a bounce pad next to the spawn that launches players really high.”
You see a row for every action Shard takes. Click one to see the details. When it’s done, Ctrl Z steps back through its changes if you don’t like them.
Habits that get better results.
None of these are required. They save you messages and rework.
- Say where
- Name the object or script: “the Door model in Workspace”. Or select it and say “this part”. Shard checks your selection when you mention it.
- Use a skill
- Type / and pick one, like
/uior/datastore, to make sure Shard follows that playbook. - Keep talking
- Had another idea during a run? Send it. It waits in the queue, or press Steer to change course now.
- Playtest it
- Shard tests code in edit mode, but only a playtest proves gameplay works. Shard pauses while you play and comes back when you stop.
- Ask for agents on big jobs
- “Use two agents, one for the UI and one for the server script.”
- Save first
- Before a big change, save or publish a copy of your place. Undo covers Shard’s changes, but a backup never hurts.
Want the details?
The docs cover the queue, agents, skills, providers, limits and every error message.