# Get Started with dex

Welcome to dex—the fastest way to build, operate, and scale data pipelines without the headaches of stitching tools together or maintaining infrastructure.

In just a few minutes, you'll be able to:

1. Connect to your data sources
2. Write your first data model
3. Schedule and run your pipeline
4. View lineage, docs, and tests in one place

### Before you begin

To get started, you’ll need:

* Access to a cloud warehouse (we currently support BigQuery, Athena and Redshift)
* Access to your dex workspace (or sign up [here](https://dexlabs.io))
* A GitHub or GitLab repo (recommended for version control and CI/CD)

### Choose your setup

dex supports multiple deployment options. Pick the one that fits your environment:

* [Quickstart with GCP](/lakehouse-platform/get-started-with-dex/quickstart-dex-with-gcp.md) – set up dex using your Google Cloud project
* [Quickstart with AWS](/lakehouse-platform/get-started-with-dex/quickstart-dex-with-aws.md) – configure dex with your AWS credentials and preferred services

Both guides walk you through installing dex, connecting your first data source, and deploying your first pipeline in under 30 minutes.

<table data-card-size="large" data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-cover data-type="files"></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Quickstart for dex and GCP</strong></td><td>Discover how to leverage dex with BigQuery to streamline analytics workflows</td><td><a href="/files/5PzbH7xFjGS2rdU9v8fO">/files/5PzbH7xFjGS2rdU9v8fO</a></td><td><a href="/pages/MOUatkAIZ7Vzas9NtpQi">/pages/MOUatkAIZ7Vzas9NtpQi</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Quickstart for dex and AWS</strong></td><td>Learn how to use AWS Athena for efficient data processing and analysis</td><td><a href="/files/W69FnCbu3igJKeElnqfU">/files/W69FnCbu3igJKeElnqfU</a></td><td><a href="/pages/I1DfO9wHGWQ2ixo1LtG3">/pages/I1DfO9wHGWQ2ixo1LtG3</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

***

### What you’ll build

In the quickstart guides, you’ll create a project that:

* Connects to a sample Postgres database
* Ingests and transforms data with simple SQL models
* Automatically runs tests and generates documentation
* Outputs production-ready tables to your warehouse

By the end, you’ll have a working project that you can adapt and expand for your own business use cases.

### Next steps

Once you’ve completed the quickstart, explore these next areas:

* **Set Up dex** – configure Git, environments, secrets, and project structure
* **Connector Catalog** – explore ready-to-use integrations for SaaS apps, databases, and file sources
* **Write Your First Model** – define business logic using only `SELECT` statements
* **Add Tests & Documentation** – ensure data quality and share context across teams
* **Schedule Runs** – automate orchestration with built-in job management


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.dexlabs.io/lakehouse-platform/get-started-with-dex.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.