Getting Started With Agathon in 15 Minutes

From Idea to Peace of Mind: Getting Started With Agathon in 15 Minutes. The hardest part isn't using Agathon. It's believing you actually need it.

If you're still reading, you probably do. So here's how to actually build your first dead man's switch:

1. Create your account (2 minutes). Visit agathon.one, enter an email and password. Set up two-factor authentication using an authenticator app — same thing you'd use for your bank or email. You'll never remember it because your phone generates it. That's the point.
2. Set your check-in PIN (1 minute). This is a separate credential from your password. Keep it simple enough to type quickly, strong enough that casual guessing won't work. Somewhere between "1234" and "correcthorsebatterystaple." You're going to enter this once a week, so make it something you can type without thinking.
3. Upload a real document (3 minutes). Don't overthink it. Start with something concrete: a password manager export, a list of account logins, a letter to your spouse, a set of instructions for your executor. The Free plan holds up to 5 documents and 100 MB total, which is genuinely plenty for most people's core information.
4. Name your recipients (2 minutes). Who should receive this document if you can't tell them yourself? Your spouse. Your business partner. Your executor. Your closest friend. Agathon lets you add up to 2 recipients on Free (5 on Personal, 20 on Professional). Add the people you'd actually want receiving the information.
5. Choose your check-in frequency (1 minute). How often can you realistically check in? Weekly? Daily? Tie it to something you already do. Sunday morning coffee. Friday calendar review. The moment you open your work email. Make it a non-decision, a habit.
6. Set a reminder on your phone (1 minute). Or bookmark the check-in page. Or write it on a Post-it. Do whatever makes it real. The entire system only works if you actually check in.
7. That's it. You've created your first dead man's switch.

From here, it works silently in the background. Every week or whatever cadence you chose, spend five seconds entering your PIN. Everything stays private. Everyone stays calm. Nothing releases because you haven't missed any check-ins.

Until someday, if things ever change, you don't have to wonder whether the right people will know the right information. Because you've already arranged it.

That's the whole point: peace of mind, built on five seconds a week.