---
title: First Observatory visit
description: Open the dashboard, learn what's normal for a brand-new project (empty inbox, sparse signals), and hand off to the Observatory section for deeper reading.
---

The verification checks passed. Now look at what your platform sees about your project.

## Open the console

Open the Observatory in your deployment — the `/observatory` route of your docs site or dashboard. It reads **your** registry + memory: the signals from every project wired into **your** platform. Nothing project-specific to set up; if your project's signals have reached your platform (which they have, if [Verify it worked](/start/verify-it-worked/) passed), they show up here.

Want to see what the console looks like before you stand up your own? The public demo at [tapestry-khaki.vercel.app/observatory](https://tapestry-khaki.vercel.app/observatory) runs on sample data — a read-only reference, not your data.

## What you'll see on a brand-new project

A new project's first visit looks sparse — that's correct, not a failure:

| What it shows | Why it's sparse on day one |
|---|---|
| Candidate inbox | The Observer cron runs every 6 hours. Your project hasn't had a cycle yet, so the candidates list is empty or has only general findings. |
| Memory lens | Empty until you've written or accumulated memories. The auto-recall block in your session was empty for the same reason. |
| Architecture lens | Empty until your project starts running `scripts/architecture_snapshot.py` (optional — onboarding doesn't add it; see [Architecture snapshots](/explanation/architecture-snapshots/)). |
| Observer lens | Empty until the cron has interpreted enough signal from your project to surface findings. |

Sparse first-visit is the norm. Patterns accumulate; come back after a few work sessions.

## What changes over time

After a few days of normal use, the cockpit starts populating:

- Corrections you make in chat become **friction patterns** the Observer surfaces.
- Memory writes (your decisions, observer synthesis memos) populate the **memory lens**.
- Architecture-snapshot runs (if you wire the optional scripts in) populate the **architecture lens**.
- Recurring candidates across projects start composing under the **cross-project lens** (planned — currently surfaces as deduplicated findings in the candidate inbox).

## What's the right question to ask the cockpit

The Observatory isn't a status dashboard. It's a *trajectory* dashboard. Ask trajectory questions:

- Is coordination on this project getting smoother or rougher? (Friction recurrence, correction frequency)
- Is anything stabilizing into a candidate worth promoting? (Candidate inbox + observer confidence)
- Has memory been load-bearing, or have I been re-explaining things? (Memory miss rate vs reinforcement)
- Has my project's shape changed in ways I didn't notice? (Architecture diffs)

State questions ("is the API up right now?") belong in a regular operational dashboard, not here.

## Related

- [The Observatory](/observatory/about/) — what the console holds and how to read it.
- [What Tapestry is](/start/what-stays-on-track/) — the concepts behind what you're seeing.