1 30 min

Setup

Create a Google account if you don't have one, get a Google Cloud project ready, enable the APIs you'll need today (and for the bonus tracks), and install the Antigravity IDE so the rest of the workshop is creative work.

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).

Where are you starting from? · 60 sec

Five questions you'll answer at the wrap-up. Don't look anything up — just notice where you are right now. The same five appear at the end of step 7. The gap between the two passes is what you actually learned today.

What's the role of the Gem versus the NotebookLM in step 3, and why split the work across two tools?
What's persona.json used for, and why does it live as its own file instead of being baked into the HTML?
When nobody's hitting your deployed Cloud Run site, what does it cost?
Where do your TryGCP credits live — on the project, or somewhere else?
If you wanted to ship a different small site next week, which steps from today would you actually re-run?

Account & sign-in

Get a Google identity attached to a working gcloud CLI. Three things: account, install, sign-in. After this block you can talk to Google Cloud from your terminal — you just don't have a project to talk to yet.

Create a Google account (if you don't 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.

Already have a personal Google account (any @gmail.com or any other email you signed up with for personal use)? Use it — skip ahead to "Install the gcloud CLI."
Don't have one? Create a free account with the steps below — it takes about a minute.
School (.edu) or company / Google Workspace account? Those cannot claim the credits, so the deploy step would cost you out of pocket. Create a personal account instead.

Open accounts.google.com/signup.
Choose For my personal use.
Fill in name, date of birth, and gender.
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.
Choose a strong password and verify your phone number.
Accept the terms and finish the flow.

Install the gcloud CLI

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 to gcloud. Otherwise, install it for your operating system below.

First, find out which CPU your Mac has:

uname -m

If it prints arm64 (Apple Silicon — M1/M2/M3/M4):

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

If it prints x86_64 (Intel Mac):

curl -O https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/downloads/google-cloud-cli-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz

tar -xf google-cloud-cli-darwin-x86_64.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.

Open PowerShell (Start → type "PowerShell") and run:

(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadFile("https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/GoogleCloudSDKInstaller.exe", "$env:Temp\GoogleCloudSDKInstaller.exe")

& $env:Temp\GoogleCloudSDKInstaller.exe

The installer GUI launches. Accept the defaults — including Run gcloud init after install. Once it finishes, close and reopen your terminal so the new gcloud on your PATH is picked up.

Prefer a regular installer? Download the .exe directly from dl.google.com and double-click it.

Debian / Ubuntu (recommended). Add Google's apt repository and install:

curl https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/cloud.google.gpg

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/cloud.google.gpg] https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt cloud-sdk main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-cloud-sdk.list

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install google-cloud-cli

Snap (Ubuntu). One-liner if you have snap:

sudo snap install google-cloud-cli --classic

Other distros (Fedora, Arch, etc.). Download and run the generic Linux tarball:

curl -O https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/downloads/google-cloud-cli-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

tar -xf google-cloud-cli-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh

Open a new terminal after install so the PATH update takes effect.

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.

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 git — skip the install steps below and continue with Sign in to gcloud. Otherwise, install it for your operating system below.

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.

Open PowerShell and run:

winget install --id Git.Git -e --source winget

Accept the defaults at every prompt. Once it finishes, close and reopen your terminal so the new git on your PATH is picked up.

No winget on your system? Download the installer from git-scm.com/download/win and double-click it.

Debian / Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install git

Fedora / RHEL:

sudo dnf install git

Arch:

sudo pacman -S git

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.

Sign in to gcloud

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 bonus chatbot needs these later, and doing it now means you won't trip over auth errors at deploy time:

gcloud auth application-default login

Credits & project

Now build the thing your gcloud CLI can talk to: a Cloud project funded by your trial credits. Four steps: pre-flight, claim credits, create project, link billing. After this block your project exists, the credits are wired in, and APIs will actually enable.

Pre-flight before you click anything

Five small browser hygiene tips that prevent the most common setup pain. Do all of them in the next two minutes:

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. If you need a VPN normally, switch it off for the next 15 minutes.
Have your laptop plugged in. Setup eats battery faster than you'd think.

Claim your cloud credits

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 and the bonus tracks.

Your instructor will give you a URL that looks like trygcp.dev/claim/<event-id>. Then:

Open the link. Paste it into your Incognito window.
Sign in with Gmail. Use the same personal Google account you'll use for the rest of the workshop.
Click "access credits." The page prompts you with a single button.
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 step links them.

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.

Where do I see my credits?

You won't see them on the project dashboard. Open the navigation menu (top-left) → Billing → Credits tab. Start date, end date, percentage remaining all show there. If you can't find them, you're probably looking on the project page instead of the billing page.

Create a Google Cloud project

Open the Google Cloud Console in the same Incognito window.
Click the project picker in the top bar (next to the Google Cloud logo) and choose New project.
Enter a name like gde-workshop-2026. Leave No organization selected as parent.
If a billing-account dropdown appears, pick Google Cloud Platform Trial Billing Account. Click Create.
Note the auto-generated project ID — it may differ from the name. You'll need it shortly.

"Project ID already taken" is normal

Project IDs are globally unique across all of Google Cloud — not just your account. Common names like gde-workshop-2026 are likely already reserved. If creation fails, append a random suffix (-7f3a, your initials, today's date). The project name can stay readable; only the ID needs to be unique.

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.

Link the trial billing to your project

If the dropdown above let you set billing during project creation, you can skip this section. Otherwise:

Open the navigation menu (top-left) → Billing.
You'll see a notice that the project has no billing account. Click Link a billing account.
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.

APIs & IDE

Last block. Point gcloud at the project you just created, switch on the APIs the workshop needs, and install the local IDE plus runtime. After this block you stop touching the cloud console until step 6 (deploy).

Point gcloud at the project

gcloud config set project YOUR_PROJECT_ID

Verify:

gcloud config get-value project

Enable the required APIs

Four APIs cover everything in the workshop, including the bonus chatbot. 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 bonus chatbot uses it. Enable it now and the bonus track works without re-doing setup.

"Cannot enable services" — billing not linked

If gcloud services enable errors out with a permission or billing message, your project doesn't have a billing account linked yet. APIs refuse to enable without one — even with credits sitting in your trial account. Go back to Link the trial billing to your project above.

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.

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. Check what you have:

node --version

If the output is below v20.0.0 or the command isn't found, install a recent LTS from nodejs.org or via your package manager of choice (Homebrew, nvm, fnm, etc.).

Tip

If you use nvm, run nvm install 20 && nvm use 20. The site you'll deploy in step 6 pins Node 20 in its Dockerfile, so matching it locally avoids surprises later.

Install 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.

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

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

Gemini CLI installs as a global npm package. Node 20 (above) is a prerequisite — confirm node --version first.

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Verify the install:

gemini --version

The first time you run gemini it will open a browser window to sign in — use the same Google account you used for Cloud and Antigravity.

Why install both? Both Antigravity and Gemini CLI talk to the same Gemini agent infrastructure. Only the surface differs (IDE panel vs. terminal prompt). If Antigravity stalls during the workshop, the CLI is a one-command escape hatch that picks up the same workflow.

Troubleshooting

Project ID taken

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

Why. Project IDs are globally unique across all Google Cloud — common names are reserved by other users.

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

Can't enable services

Symptom. gcloud services enable fails with permission, quota, or billing errors.

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 to Billing → Link a billing account → pick Google Cloud Platform Trial Billing Account. Re-run the enable command.

Wrong billing account

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.

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.

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.

"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

"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.

"API [foo.googleapis.com] not enabled"

Cause. The required API isn't turned on for your project.

Fix. Enable the workshop APIs in one go:

gcloud services enable \
  run.googleapis.com \
  cloudbuild.googleapis.com \
  artifactregistry.googleapis.com \
  aiplatform.googleapis.com

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

Key takeaways

Credits come via TryGCP — a $5 trial billing account, valid 6 months, attached to your Gmail.
You created a project with a globally-unique ID and linked it to that trial billing account, not any other.
gcloud is installed, signed in, and pointed at the right project — verified, not assumed.
Run, Artifact Registry, Cloud Build, and Vertex AI APIs are all enabled.
Cloud Build's service account has roles/run.builder — the deploy step won't trip on the most common first-deploy gotcha.
Node 20+ is on your path. Antigravity is installed and signed in (with Gemini CLI as a fallback if you installed it).