1 30 min

Setup

Eleven steps to a working starting line: a personal Google account, the gcloud CLI signed in, Git, claimed cloud credits, a project linked to billing, the right APIs enabled, the Cloud Build IAM grant pre-staged, Node 20, and Antigravity installed.

This is the one block where everyone needs to keep pace. Once your project is live and your tools are installed, you won't touch the cloud console again until step 6 (deploy).

1. Create a personal Google account (skip if you have one)

Everything in this workshop — Cloud, Antigravity, Stitch, Gemini — runs on a single Google account, and the TryGCP credits we'll use can only be redeemed on a personal Google account.

  1. Open accounts.google.com/signup.
  2. Choose For my personal use.
  3. Fill in name, date of birth, and gender.
  4. Pick a Gmail address — or click Use your existing email if you'd rather sign up with the email you already have. Both work for the workshop.
  5. Choose a strong password and verify your phone number.
  6. Accept the terms and finish the flow.

2. Install the Google Cloud CLI & sign in

The gcloud command-line tool is how you talk to Google Cloud from your terminal. You need it for setup, deploy, and almost everything else in this workshop.

First, check whether it's already installed:

gcloud version

If you see version info, skip ahead to Sign in below. Otherwise, install it for your operating system:

First, find out which CPU your Mac has:

uname -m

It prints either arm64 (Apple Silicon, all Macs from late 2020 onward) or x86_64 (Intel). Pick the matching tab:

uname -m printed arm64:

curl -O https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/downloads/google-cloud-cli-darwin-arm.tar.gz
tar -xf google-cloud-cli-darwin-arm.tar.gz
./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh

The installer asks two questions: say Y to "Add gcloud to your PATH" and Y to enable command completion. Then open a new terminal window so the PATH change takes effect.

Why a new terminal?

When you install a new command-line tool, your existing terminal sessions don't know about it yet — they captured a snapshot of available commands when they opened. A fresh terminal window picks up the new gcloud automatically. Old windows still won't find it; you have to close and reopen them.

Verify the install:

gcloud version

You should see something like Google Cloud SDK 500.0.0 followed by component versions. If the command isn't found, your shell needs a fresh window to pick up the PATH update.

Troubleshooting — "gcloud: command not found"

Cause. gcloud isn't on your PATH, or the install never completed.

Fix. Reinstall the SDK and source the path file in your shell config.

curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash
exec -l $SHELL
gcloud --version

Sign in

Authenticate the CLI with your Google account. This opens a browser window — sign in with the same account you'll use for the workshop:

gcloud auth login

While you're at it, set up application default credentials. The post-workshop codelabs (Vertex AI, ADK) need these, and doing it now means you won't come back here later:

gcloud auth application-default login

3. Install Git

You'll need git in step 5 — the agent initializes a repo and makes commits as part of scaffolding your project. You don't need a GitHub account — Cloud Run deploys directly from your local files in step 6, no Git remote required. This is just about having the CLI tool.

First, check whether it's already installed:

git --version

If you see version info, you're done with this step. Otherwise, install it for your operating system:

The Xcode Command Line Tools include git. Install them with:

xcode-select --install

A dialog pops up — click Install. The download is a few hundred MB; takes 2–5 minutes on a decent connection.

Verify the install:

git --version

You should see something like git version 2.40.0. If the command isn't found, open a new terminal window so the PATH update takes effect.

4. Claim your cloud credits

Before you click anything — 60-second browser hygiene
  • Sign in to only one Gmail in your browser. Multi-account sessions confuse the credit redemption flow.
  • Use a Chrome Incognito window for the next ten minutes. Clean session, no extension surprises.
  • Allow third-party cookies and disable ad-blockers for the redemption flow. It uses cross-domain redirects that some blockers break.
  • Disconnect from corporate VPNs / strict proxies. They often block trygcp.dev. Switch off for the next 15 minutes.
  • Have your laptop plugged in. Setup eats battery faster than you'd think.

The workshop uses TryGCP credits — a $5 trial billing account that's valid for 6 months and doesn't need a credit card. Plenty for everything in this workshop, with credits left over for the post-workshop codelabs.

Use the link below to claim your credits — it's the one for this workshop:

Claim your cloud credits

Direct URL (in case you need to copy-paste it into Incognito): trygcp.dev/claim/<event-id>

Then:

  1. Open the link in Incognito. Use a clean Chrome Incognito window.
  2. Sign in with Gmail. Use the same personal Google account you'll use for the rest of the workshop.
  3. Click "access credits." The page prompts you with a single button.
  4. Verify your name and accept the T&Cs. Click "Accept and Continue."

That creates a "Google Cloud Platform Trial Billing Account" attached to your Gmail. The credits live there — not on a project yet. The next steps create a project and link the credits to it.

Visual walkthrough — what each claim step looks like
The trygcp.dev claim landing page
1. Open the link — trygcp.dev landing page.
Sign in with your Google account
2. Sign in with the same Gmail you'll use throughout the workshop.
Click the access credits button
3. Click the prominent "access credits" button.
Verify your name and accept the terms
4. Verify your name, accept the T&Cs, click "Accept and Continue."

Screenshots: Google Cloud & AI Train-the-Trainer materials.

Troubleshooting — Where are my credits?

Symptom. You claimed credits but can't see them anywhere on the project.

Why. Credits live on the billing account, not the project. The project dashboard doesn't show them.

Fix. Navigation menu → Billing → Credits tab. You'll see start date, end date, and percentage remaining.

Troubleshooting — trygcp.dev won't load

Symptom. The trygcp.dev claim URL won't load, redirects fail, or hangs at "signing in."

Why. Three usual causes: corporate VPN / proxy blocking the domain, ad-blocker eating the redirect cookies, or multiple Google accounts confusing the sign-in.

Fix. Open Chrome Incognito. Disconnect VPN. Allow third-party cookies for google.com and trygcp.dev. Sign in with one Gmail only.

5. Create a Google Cloud project

  1. Open the Google Cloud Console in the same Incognito window.
  2. Click the project picker in the top bar (next to the Google Cloud logo) and choose New project.
  3. Enter a name like gde-workshop-2026. Leave No organization selected as parent.
  4. If a billing-account dropdown appears, pick Google Cloud Platform Trial Billing Account. Click Create.
  5. Note the auto-generated project ID — it may differ from the name. You'll need it shortly.
Visual walkthrough — creating the project
Project picker dropdown in the Cloud Console
1. Click the project picker next to the Google Cloud logo.
New Project link in the project picker
2. Click the blue "New Project" link.
Project info form with name and parent fields
3. Enter a name. Leave parent as "No organization." If a billing dropdown shows, pick the Trial.
Select project pop-up after creation
4. Click "Select Project" in the notification — or pick the new project from the dropdown.

Screenshots: Google Cloud & AI Train-the-Trainer materials.

Troubleshooting — "Project ID already taken"

Symptom. The console rejects "Create" with a vague error about the project ID.

Why. Project IDs are globally unique across all of Google Cloud, not just your account. Common names like gde-workshop-2026 are likely already reserved.

Fix. Append a unique suffix to the ID: random hex (-7f3a), your initials, today's date. The display name can stay readable; only the ID needs to be unique.

6. Link the trial billing to your project

If the dropdown in step 5 let you set billing during project creation, you can skip this step. Otherwise:

  1. Open the navigation menu (top-left) → Billing.
  2. You'll see a notice that the project has no billing account. Click Link a billing account.
  3. Pick Google Cloud Platform Trial Billing Account — exactly that one, not any other personal billing account you might have. Click Set account.
Pick the trial billing, not your existing one

If you've used Google Cloud before, you probably have a personal billing account already. The dropdown will show both. Pick the trial — picking your own billing means you pay out of pocket while the $5 credit sits unused. The trial is the one with "Trial Billing" in the name.

Already linked the wrong one? Project picker → 3-dot menu next to your project → Change Billing → pick the trial.

Visual walkthrough — linking the trial billing
Cloud Console navigation menu showing Billing under Products
1. Open the navigation menu and click "Billing" under Products.
Notification stating no billing account is linked, with Link a billing account button
2. Click "Link a billing account" on the no-billing notification.
Billing account dropdown with Google Cloud Platform Trial Billing Account selected
3. Pick "Google Cloud Platform Trial Billing Account" and click "Set account."
Billing Credits tab showing start date, end date, and percentage remaining
4. Verify under Billing → Credits — start date, end date, and percentage remaining.

Screenshots: Google Cloud & AI Train-the-Trainer materials.

Optional — rename the billing account if you have several
Account management page with the Rename billing account control highlighted
If you have multiple billing accounts with similar names, open the Account management page and use "Rename billing account" to give the trial a memorable label. Avoid putting any sensitive info in the name.

Screenshot: Google Cloud & AI Train-the-Trainer materials.

Troubleshooting — Wrong billing account linked

Symptom. You linked billing but it's the wrong account — your existing personal billing, not the trial. Charges go to your card.

Why. If you've used Google Cloud before, the dropdown shows multiple billing accounts. The trial is a separate, new one.

Fix. Project picker (top bar) → 3-dot menu next to your project → Change Billing → pick Google Cloud Platform Trial Billing Account.

7. Point gcloud at the project

Tell the CLI which project to talk to. Use the project ID from step 5 (not the display name):

gcloud config set project YOUR_PROJECT_ID

Verify:

gcloud config get-value project
Troubleshooting — Wrong project active

Cause. gcloud's active project is set to something old (a personal sandbox, last week's workshop, etc.).

Fix.

gcloud config set project YOUR_PROJECT_ID

8. Enable the required APIs

Four APIs cover everything in the workshop, plus Vertex AI for the post-workshop codelabs. Enabling them all now means you won't have to come back here later.

gcloud services enable run.googleapis.com artifactregistry.googleapis.com cloudbuild.googleapis.com aiplatform.googleapis.com
What each API does
  • run.googleapis.com — Cloud Run, where your site will live.
  • artifactregistry.googleapis.com — stores the container image for your site.
  • cloudbuild.googleapis.com — builds that image from your source.
  • aiplatform.googleapis.com — Vertex AI. Not needed for the core build, but the post-workshop codelabs (MCP, ADK) use it. Enable now to avoid coming back.
Troubleshooting — "Cannot enable services" / billing not linked

Symptom. gcloud services enable errors out with a permission, quota, or billing message.

Why. No billing account is linked to the project yet — even though credits are in your trial billing account, they aren't reachable from the project until you link it.

Fix. Go back to step 6 and confirm the trial billing is linked. Then re-run the enable command.

Troubleshooting — "API [foo.googleapis.com] not enabled" later

Cause. A required API is off, or the enable just propagated and your CLI cached the old state.

Fix. Re-run the enable above. If a specific API is missing, run it on its own:

gcloud services enable run.googleapis.com
Troubleshooting — "PERMISSION_DENIED" or "quota exceeded"

Cause. You're authenticated to a project that doesn't have billing enabled, or your account lacks IAM roles.

Fix. Confirm the active project, billing, and your role:

gcloud config get-value project
gcloud projects describe $(gcloud config get-value project)
gcloud auth list

In the Cloud Console, open Billing and confirm the project is linked. In IAM & Admin, check you have at least roles/editor for the workshop work.

9. Pre-grant Cloud Build the right to deploy

The first time you deploy from source on a fresh project, Google's Cloud Build service account needs permission to create a Cloud Run service on your behalf. This is the single most common first-deploy gotcha — so do it now, while you're still in setup mode, instead of debugging it 90 minutes from now under time pressure:

PROJECT_ID=$(gcloud config get-value project)
PROJECT_NUMBER=$(gcloud projects describe $PROJECT_ID --format='value(projectNumber)')

gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding $PROJECT_ID \
  --member="serviceAccount:${PROJECT_NUMBER}-compute@developer.gserviceaccount.com" \
  --role="roles/run.builder"

One-time per project. The deploy step (step 6) will reference this and skip it if it's already done.

10. Install Node.js 20+

The agent will scaffold a Node 20 project for you in step 5, and the Gemini CLI fallback below also runs on Node 20. First, check whether it's already installed:

node --version

If you see v20.x.x or higher, skip the install steps below and go straight to step 11. Otherwise, install Node 20+ for your operating system:

Recommended — Homebrew. If you don't have Homebrew, install it first from brew.sh. Then:

brew install node@20
brew link --overwrite node@20

Open a new terminal window so the new node on your PATH is picked up.

Alternative — nvm (if you want to switch Node versions for different projects):

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.1/install.sh | bash

Open a new terminal, then:

nvm install 20 && nvm use 20

Alternative — official installer. Download the macOS .pkg from nodejs.org (pick the LTS, currently 20.x) and double-click it.

Verify the install:

node --version
npm --version

You should see v20.x.x (or higher) for Node and a version like 10.x.x for npm. If the command isn't found, open a new terminal window so the PATH update takes effect.

Why Node 20 specifically?

The site you'll deploy in step 6 pins Node 20 in its Dockerfile, so matching it locally avoids "works on my machine" surprises. Node 22 will work for local dev but Cloud Run will run your container on Node 20 either way — better to test locally on the same version.

11. Install Antigravity (your agentic editor)

Antigravity is Google's agentic IDE — it's the default for this workshop and what most slides reference. Gemini CLI is a terminal-based fallback that drives the same Gemini agent infrastructure; the only difference is the UI. Install both if you can: if Antigravity has a bad day during the workshop (auth errors, agent loops, slow responses), you can switch to the CLI without losing progress.

  1. Go to antigravity.google and download the build for your operating system.
  2. Install and launch it.
  3. Sign in with the same Google account you used for Cloud.

Already have Antigravity installed? You're done with this step.