Backstop docs
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Quick start

Backstop takes about 15 minutes to install and get your first alert. Here’s the short version.

What you’ll need

  • A parent account at backstop.io (email, password, and a credit card for COPPA-verified consent).
  • A large language model provider account with an API key you can copy (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or an OpenAI-compatible self-hosted endpoint).
  • Admin credentials on your child’s laptop.
  • 15 uninterrupted minutes at that laptop.

Steps

  1. Sign up at backstop.io and complete the parental-consent flow (a small credit-card charge, refunded if you cancel the trial).
  2. Save your recovery mnemonic. At signup, the parent web app shows a 12-word phrase. Write it down. If you lose your laptop and your Backstop session, this is what unlocks your family’s history — we can’t recover it for you.
  3. Download the installer for your child’s operating system from the Download page.
  4. Run the installer on your child’s laptop with admin credentials. The installer walks you through:
    • Screen recording permission (macOS) or capture consent (Windows).
    • Pairing to your family with a one-time code from the parent web app.
    • Applying browser policies and the blocklist to Chrome and Edge.
  5. Pick a taxonomy preset in the parent app. The default is “Standard 8-12”; you can start with that and edit later.
  6. Connect your LLM provider. Paste your API key. Backstop stores it in the endpoint’s OS keychain — not on our servers.
  7. Wait one cycle. By default the endpoint takes a screenshot every 10 minutes. Your first alert should appear within one cycle if something matches.

What to do next