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Create a Prefect Cloud Account

Optional - Only for Prefect Cloud users

This page is only required if you choose to use Prefect Cloud (the managed service). If you plan to self-host Prefect, skip this page and proceed directly to the Orchestration build section.

On this page, you will:

  • Create a Prefect Cloud account
  • Create a workspace
  • Generate an API key
  • Store credentials securely

Why Prefect Cloud?

Prefect Cloud is the managed version of Prefect - the orchestration platform that coordinates your data pipelines. With Prefect Cloud, you get:

  • Zero infrastructure management - No servers, databases, or upgrades to maintain
  • Built-in authentication - SSO, service accounts, and API keys
  • Collaboration features - Multiple users, workspaces, and audit logs
  • High availability - Prefect manages uptime and scaling

For a comparison of Prefect Cloud versus self-hosted options, see the Choosing a Deployment guide.

Create Your Account

  1. Visit app.prefect.cloud and click Sign Up
  2. Choose your authentication method:
    • Google/GitHub SSO (recommended for ease of use)
    • Email and password
  3. Complete the sign-up process and verify your email if required

Create a Workspace

After signing up, you'll be prompted to create a workspace. Workspaces are isolated environments for your flows and deployments.

For your workspace name, use something meaningful like:

  • production or prod - For production workloads
  • development or dev - For testing and development
  • <company-name> - If you only need one workspace initially

Start with One Workspace

For small teams, a single workspace is often sufficient. You can create additional workspaces later as your needs grow. Multiple workspaces require the Pro tier or higher.

Generate an API Key

You'll need an API key to authenticate from your local machine and CI/CD pipelines.

For production use, create a service account rather than using a personal API key:

  1. Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner
  2. Select Service Accounts
  3. Click Create Service Account
  4. Name it something meaningful like terraform or ci-cd
  5. Select the appropriate role (usually Admin for initial setup)
  6. Click Create
  7. Copy the generated API key - you won't be able to see it again

Or Use a Personal API Key

For personal development or testing:

  1. Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner
  2. Select API Keys
  3. Click Create API Key
  4. Name it (e.g. laptop or development)
  5. Set an expiration (90-180 days is recommended)
  6. Click Create
  7. Copy the generated API key

Store Your Credentials

1Password

Create a new entry in 1Password for "Prefect Cloud" with:

Field Value
Website https://app.prefect.cloud
Account ID Your account ID (found in account settings)
Workspace ID Your workspace ID (found in workspace settings)
API Key The key you generated above

Get Your Account and Workspace IDs

You'll need these IDs for Terraform configuration:

  1. Account ID: Click your profile icon → Account Settings → copy the Account ID
  2. Workspace ID: Click the workspace name in the sidebar → Settings → copy the Workspace ID

Store these in 1Password alongside your API key.

AWS Secrets Manager

Storing the API key in AWS Secrets Manager for CI/CD and Terraform is covered in the Prefect Cloud Setup guide.

Configure the Prefect CLI

Install and configure the Prefect CLI on your local machine:

# Install Prefect
uv add prefect

# Login to Prefect Cloud
prefect cloud login

Follow the prompts to authenticate. You can either:

  • Open the browser to authenticate interactively
  • Paste your API key directly

Verify the connection:

prefect version
prefect cloud workspace ls

What's Next

Success

You now have a Prefect Cloud account with a workspace and API key ready for use!

Your Prefect Cloud account is ready. The detailed configuration - including Terraform setup, work pools, and workers - is covered in the build section.

Continue to Orchestration →