Run your first project from sold to paid
A 12-step tour of the install lifecycle, using a real project as the example.
Run one real project end-to-end. You'll touch every part of the platform without learning each in isolation.
What you'll learn
- The eight lifecycle milestones your project moves through
- Which Buddy handles which step
- How to approve, undo, and audit every change
Before you start
- At least one Member-or-above role
- Either a SoCap connection or the ability to add a project manually
Steps
Import or create the project
If your SoCap integration is live, projects appear automatically when a contract is signed. Otherwise, click + New Project on the dashboard and fill in customer + system size.
Let data completeness run
Within 24 hours, the data-completeness check will surface anything the system couldn't fetch (utility account #, panel count, etc.) as a task for the PM. Resolve those first.
Submit the permit
Open the project, go to Permits, click Submit. Pip will then watch the application against AHJ median approval time and draft follow-ups when it stalls.
Approve Pip's first chase
When a permit stalls past the median, you'll get an item in the Buddies inbox. Review the draft, click Approve, or pick a suppression reason ("AHJ on vacation").
Schedule the install
Cal proposes a slot from crew availability. Approve it; the dispatch record is reversible for 24 hours.
Capture install photos
Quinn checks 7 days pre-install for required shot-list items. Missing photos become a task on the crew route.
Pass the T-3 readiness scan
Three days before inspection, Pip flags anything that would fail the playbook. The Quality Surveyor verifies before the inspector arrives.
Inspection passes — commission books
The morning after a passed inspection, Cash books a $200 commission line to the inspector. Reversible for 24 hours.
PTO chase
Project status flips to "Installed." Cash sorts it into A/B/C tiers and drafts the PTO follow-up. You approve, or pick a suppression reason.
PTO granted → activation tracked
Project moves to the PTO-no-activation bucket. Cash reports it on the daily AR digest until energized.
Activation → project closes
System goes live. Project status flips to "Complete." Final AR drops out of the digest.
It's retrievable forever
The nightly summary captures the full arc, and every Buddy action is indexed. Ask the in-app assistant "why did AHJ X take 47 days?" later and the answer is there.
Verify it worked
On the dashboard, your project should appear in the Live pipeline strip with all 8 milestones lit green when complete. The audit log under Buddies → Activity shows every action with a 24h undo button.