1.5Linking your first project

The desktop app authenticates against a project rather than an account, using a project key. This is a small distinction with a useful consequence: a build machine, a contractor's laptop, and your own desktop can each hold a key scoped to exactly one project, and revoking one affects nothing else.

1. 1

   Create the project on the web

   Sign in to the dashboard, create an organization if you have not already, then create a project inside it.

2. 2

   Generate a project key

   Open the project and use the Quick Setup panel on the right. Keys start with usc_ and are shown exactly once. Copy it somewhere safe; if you lose it, revoke it and generate another.

3. 3

   Paste the key into the desktop app

   The app validates it and shows which project and organization it belongs to, so you can tell immediately if you pasted the wrong one.

4. 4

   Pick the project folder

   Choose the folder containing your .uproject. The app recognizes an Unreal project and offers a .gitignore tuned for one.

5. 5

   Take the first pull

   If the project already has files, the app offers to download them before anything else happens. Accept it — this is what makes the first sync fast and, more importantly, correct.

What to keep out

USourceControl reads the .gitignore in your project root, in exactly the format you already know. Everything Unreal regenerates belongs in it. Committing DerivedDataCache/ does not protect anything — it is derived, by definition — and it costs every teammate a long download on every pull.

Binaries/
Build/
DerivedDataCache/
Intermediate/
Saved/
*.sln
*.suo
*.VC.db

The app writes something close to this for you and gives you an editor for the file inside Settings, so you can fix an over-broad rule without leaving the app.