> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.generalvalidation.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting started

> Sign in with Microsoft, set up your Environment on your Fabric capacity, create a Table Pair and a Test, and review your first Result.

General Validation compares a source Table with a target Table in Microsoft
Fabric so you can confirm that a pipeline, migration, or refresh produced the
outcome you expect. You pair Lakehouse or Warehouse Tables, add Tests chosen
from twelve predefined functions, run them, and review Results in the hosted
application.

Validation runs as a Spark job in a dedicated workspace on your own Fabric
capacity under your signed-in identity, so your rows, exact values, and
mismatch evidence stay in your tenant while General Validation stores only
configuration, Run status, verdicts, counts, reason codes, and a reference to
each Run's Results folder. See
[Security and the data boundary](https://docs.generalvalidation.com/administration/security.md).

## Before you start

Have these ready:

* A Microsoft work account in the Microsoft Entra directory your organization
  will use.
* An active Fabric capacity (F, P, or FT) and, for the Owner who runs setup,
  permission to create workspaces and assign them to that capacity. General
  Validation uses your existing capacity and does not purchase or resize
  capacity.
* Access to the Lakehouse or Warehouse Tables you want to compare: read access
  through their workspaces and, for Warehouse Tables, SQL SELECT on the Table.
* A directory administrator, if your tenant requires an administrator to
  approve new applications before people can sign in.

Start with one well-understood pair of Tables and a row count. Review
[Supported data](https://docs.generalvalidation.com/validate-data/supported-data.md) for the Tables General Validation can
compare and the access each one needs.

## 1. Sign in and approve access

1. Open [General Validation](https://app.generalvalidation.com) and choose
   **Get started free**, or **Sign in** if you are joining an existing
   Organization. Both take you to Microsoft.
2. Sign in with your Microsoft work account. You sign in directly with
   Microsoft; General Validation never asks for your Microsoft password.
3. Approve the permission request Microsoft shows. As the **What happens
   next** panel on the sign-in page explains, Microsoft asks you to approve
   workspace discovery, Spark job execution, and access to OneLake. Every
   permission is delegated: it acts as you and grants nothing beyond your own
   Fabric roles.

The panel lists the three steps ahead: Sign in with Microsoft, **Connect
your workspace, and Validate in Fabric**.

If sign-in stops at Administrator approval, copy the
Approval link for your administrator, send it to a Microsoft Entra
administrator, and sign in again after they approve; see
[Tenants that require administrator approval](https://docs.generalvalidation.com/administration/access.md#tenants-that-require-administrator-approval).

## 2. Name your workspace

The first person to sign in from a directory that has no Organization yet sees
the activation page, Name your workspace.

1. Enter an Organization name. This is how your team will see the
   workspace. It does not rename your Microsoft directory, and you can change
   it later.
2. Choose **Start 7-day trial**.

This links your Entra directory to the new Organization and makes you its
first Owner. The trial lasts seven days, allows up to five active Table Pairs,
and requires no credit card; the trial summary beside the form confirms
7 days, no card required, and Organization owner access. Paid plans are sized
by active Table Pairs; see
[Plans and trial](https://docs.generalvalidation.com/administration/plans.md).

Each directory has one Organization. If yours is already connected, the page
says so and offers **Accept invitation**. Ask an Owner of that Organization to
invite your work account. Invitations do not send email: the Owner shares the
sign-in link with you, and after you sign in with the invited address you
choose **Accept invitation**.

## 3. Set up your Environment

A new trial opens **Environment** directly. Only an Owner can set it up; other
members see Environment not configured until an Owner finishes.

1. Under Set up General Validation, choose a Fabric capacity. Only
   active capacities you can see are listed.
2. Click **Set up General Validation**.
3. Keep the page open while Fabric finishes setup. The Environment map beside
   the form walks through five steps and marks each one Complete when it
   is done.

Setup creates a dedicated workspace on the chosen capacity, a Results
Lakehouse named GeneralValidationResults, and one reusable validation job, all
in your Fabric tenant and with your own permissions; it never adopts or
modifies an existing workspace. When the card shows Ready for validation,
choose **Create a Table Pair**. See
[Set up your Environment](https://docs.generalvalidation.com/get-started/environment.md) for each step, for
what to do when no capacity is listed or a step fails, and for the
Reinstall and Remove actions.

## 4. Create a Table Pair

Open **Table Pairs** and click **Add Table Pair**.

1. Enter a Table Pair name.
2. Under Source Table, choose a Source Workspace, then a
   Source Lakehouse or Warehouse, then a Source Table. Table names
   include their schema, so identical names in different schemas stay
   distinct.
3. Under Target Table, make the same three choices for the target.
4. Leave Join keys empty for now. Join keys are needed only for row
   comparisons, the VALUE and OUTER\_VALUE Tests.
5. Click **Add Table Pair**.

The workspace list shows only workspaces your Microsoft account can access and
omits the dedicated General Validation workspace, which holds Results rather
than validation Tables. Your browser reads Table metadata live from Fabric;
saving the pair stores only the selected Table references, never rows.
Confirm the selection before saving: a Table Pair's source and target Tables
cannot be changed later, although its name, join keys, and filters can. Any
combination of Lakehouse and Warehouse Tables can form a Table Pair. General
Validation opens the new pair's page so you can add its first Test. See
[Create Table Pairs](https://docs.generalvalidation.com/validate-data/table-pairs.md) for join keys, filters,
and the other pair settings.

## 5. Add a Test

On the Table Pair page, click **Add Test**.

1. Under Test function, choose COUNT\_ROWS. It compares the total row
   counts of the two Tables and needs no columns, which makes it the simplest
   first control.
2. Leave Absolute threshold at 0 for exact equality, or enter the largest
   row count difference you accept.
3. Click **Add Test**.

Every other function needs a Source column and a Target column, and
VALUE and OUTER\_VALUE need the pair's join keys first. Column names and types
are read from the current Tables into your browser and are never saved to
General Validation. See
[The 12 validation functions](https://docs.generalvalidation.com/validate-data/tests.md#the-12-validation-functions)
for what each function compares.

## 6. Run and review

1. Click **Run validation** on the Table Pair page, or choose it from the
   row's ⋯ menu on Table Pairs. It is unavailable until the
   Environment is set up and the pair has at least one Test.
2. Watch the Run that opens under Results. General Validation freezes the
   pair and its Tests, your browser submits the Run to the validation job in
   your dedicated workspace, and the Run shows Prepared, Submitted,
   and Running while Fabric works. The page refreshes on its own while it
   is open, and you can leave and return later.
3. Click **Refresh Result** if the Run has not updated. This imports the Run's
   summary (verdicts, counts, and reason codes) into General Validation. When
   the job finishes, the Run shows Passed, Failed, or Error:
   Error if any Test could not be evaluated, otherwise Failed if any
   Test failed, otherwise Passed.
4. Click **View details** on a Test to see its exact source and target values
   or a preview of mismatched rows. Your browser reads them directly from
   OneLake with your own Microsoft identity; they never pass through General
   Validation, and Close details or leaving the Run clears them from the
   view.

Reading details needs access to the dedicated General Validation workspace in
Fabric as well as Organization membership; a Fabric workspace administrator
shares that workspace with teammates through Fabric. Results lists recent
Runs newest first, and Refresh Runs reloads the list. See
[Runs, Results, and evidence](https://docs.generalvalidation.com/validate-data/runs-and-evidence.md) for statuses,
reasons, evidence previews, and where the Results files live in your Results
Lakehouse.

Continue with [When to validate](https://docs.generalvalidation.com/validate-data/when-to-validate.md) and
[Validate on an ongoing basis](https://docs.generalvalidation.com/validate-data/ongoing-validation.md) to turn
your first Test into a routine control.


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