Quick Start Guide

Get Cohorto running with your GitHub organization in under 10 minutes.

This guide covers GitHub. For GitLab or Bitbucket, see the Integrations page.

Step 1: Create your Cohorto account

Go to repovyn.com/login/signup and sign up with your work email. You can also sign in with GitHub OAuth for faster setup.

Step 2: Install the GitHub App

From your Cohorto dashboard, click Connect GitHub. You'll be redirected to GitHub to install the Cohorto App on your organization.

  1. Select the organization where your repos live
  2. Choose All repositories or select specific repos to start
  3. Click Install — GitHub redirects you back to Cohorto

Step 3: Upload your CLA

In the Cohorto dashboard, navigate to Settings → CLA Templates.

  1. Click New Template
  2. Paste your CLA text in the editor, or upload a Markdown file
  3. Set the template name and version (e.g., v1.0)
  4. Click Save and activate

If you don't have a CLA yet, we provide a standard Individual CLA template as a starting point. Always have your legal team review any CLA before using it.

Step 4: Configure PR blocking

In Settings → Repositories, select a repo and enable Require CLA before merge. This adds Cohorto as a required status check on all PRs in that repo.

To make it required via GitHub:

  1. In GitHub, go to the repo → Settings → Branches
  2. Edit the branch protection rule for main
  3. Under Require status checks to pass before merging, add cohorto/cla

Step 5: Test with a new PR

Open a test pull request from an account that hasn't signed your CLA. Cohorto will:

  1. Detect the new contributor
  2. Add a failing status check (cohorto/cla — Signature required)
  3. Post a comment with a signing link

Sign the CLA using the link in the PR comment. The status check will turn green within seconds.

What's next?