First Launch
When you launch SEODesktop for the first time you'll land on the Dashboard. The left sidebar is your main navigation — every feature category (SERP, Keywords, Competitors, Backlinks, Audits, AI) has its own entry.
Before anything useful can run, you need to tell SEODesktop where to get its data.
The onboarding checklist
The Dashboard shows a three-step checklist the first time you open the app:
- Connect DataForSEO — required. Without credentials, no endpoints work.
- Configure an AI provider — optional. Only needed for the AI Analysis views.
- Enter your license key — only if you bought Pro.
You can complete these in any order. The fastest path is DataForSEO first, then run a query to confirm it works.
Where settings live
Everything is under Settings (gear icon in the bottom-left of the sidebar).
| Section | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Account | Your DataForSEO email + API key |
| AI Providers | API keys for Claude, OpenAI, and the Ollama endpoint |
| License | Pro license key management |
| Preferences | Theme, default country, default language |
| Updates | Auto-update behavior |
| Cache | Inspect and clear cached responses |
Settings are stored in your OS keychain (API keys) and a local config file (preferences). Nothing is synced to a server.
Next step
Head to Add Email & API Key to hook up DataForSEO.