# Publish your first dataset (/docs/creators)

You need files you have the right to sell. Nothing is public until you click
**Publish**, and everything happens in your browser. Words you may not know are
explained in [Words we use](/docs/glossary).

## 1. Create your account [#create-your-account]

Click **Start selling** at the top of the [home page](/), fill in your email and a
password, and click **Create account**, then confirm your email with the link we
send you. Next comes **Pick your handle**: a short public name such as
`alex-weather`, made of lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens. It appears in the
web address of every dataset you publish, and you can't change it later. Click
**Claim handle**.

Already buying on quarry? Click **Start selling**, under **Selling** in the account
menu: the same account sells too.

Your wallet, where agents' payments land, is created in the background. There's
nothing to set up.

## 2. Upload your files [#upload-your-files]

Put files that answer the same kind of question in one dataset: buyers pay one
price to search the whole set. Click **New dataset** at the top right (a plus icon
on a phone), then drop your files on the page or click **Upload**.

![The New dataset page: a large drop area with an Upload button, the kinds of files it takes and the 500-file limit.](/docs/screenshots/upload-light-043321ad.png)

You can also drop a whole folder or a ZIP archive: quarry opens it in your browser and
uploads the files inside. Files it can't use, such as system files or unsupported
formats, are skipped, and the upload panel says which and why.

The dataset starts with a name taken from the folder or archive you drop, or from what
your file names have in common. Once your files are ready, quarry suggests a better
one (see [step 5](#describe-your-dataset)). Its web address follows the name until you
publish; after that, the address stays.

PDF, Office, text, email, and image files work, up to 500 per dataset: see
[Prepare your files](/docs/creators/files). Uploads keep going while you move around
quarry, but keep the tab open while files show **Uploading**.

## 3. Wait until your files are ready [#wait-until-your-files-are-ready]

Each file is read and cut into passages: short excerpts that keep their file name,
section, and page. A file shows **Queued**, then **Preparing**, then **Ready**. A few
files are prepared at a time, and large files and scanned PDFs take a few minutes
each. Once the upload is done, you can leave the page.

If a file shows **Needs attention**, its card says why, with a **Retry** or **Remove**
button. More in [Check what agents will receive](/docs/creators/review#follow-your-files).

## 4. Ask a test question [#ask-a-test-question]

Open the **Test** tab and type a question your files should answer. You get the
passages a paying agent would receive, in the same order.

![The Test tab: a question about customer growth and the first of the five passages it returns, with its file and section.](/docs/screenshots/test-light-bf791b01.png)

No answer is written for the agent: it reads these passages and writes its own
reply. If the right passages don't come back,
[find out why and fix it](/docs/creators/review#when-the-passages-arent-right).

## 5. Check your listing [#describe-your-dataset]

Once your files are ready, quarry reads them and drafts your listing: a name, a
description, a category, and up to five example questions. Open **Settings**. Under
**Listing**, the fields quarry filled in say **Suggested from your files**:

![The Listing card of a draft: a name, link, description and category suggested from the files, five example questions each marked as answered, and 5 of 5 example questions answered.](/docs/screenshots/listing-light-0e5d3c74.png)

* **Name**: what a buyer would search for, such as "US semiconductor filings 2023
  to 2025".
* **Link**: your dataset's web address. It follows the name until you publish,
  unless you type your own.
* **Description**: agents read it to decide whether to ask you, and search shows
  only its first 300 characters. It should start with what's inside and the years
  it covers.
* **Category**: pick a suggestion, such as finance or legal, or type your own.
* **Example questions**: shown on your public page and to agents, so they know what
  to ask. quarry checks each one against your files and shows how many a passage
  answers. After you change them, **Check again**; **Try in Test** shows the
  passages.

Change anything you like: what you write is never replaced. **Draft again** writes a
new suggestion from your current files, for the fields that still hold quarry's text.
Click **Save changes**.

## 6. Set a price [#set-a-price]

Under **Pricing**, keep **Per question** selected and enter your
**Price per question** in USDC, a digital dollar worth one US dollar. The default
is $0.01, which comes to $10 for 1,000 questions; 0 makes your dataset free. Click
**Save changes**: one click saves the listing and the price together.

![The price field of the Pricing card: $0.01 USDC per question, with the free preview option checked.](/docs/screenshots/pricing-light-3ff104df.png)

To choose a price, see [Set your price](/docs/creators/pricing).

## 7. Publish [#publish]

The **Publication** card at the top of **Settings** lists what's left to do.
When every line has a check mark, click **Publish**, then confirm. With changes you
haven't saved, the button reads **Save and publish** and saves them first. A file that
needs attention doesn't hold the others back: the confirmation says it's left out,
and you publish with **Publish without them**. The confirmation also shows your
dataset's web address, which stays the same from then on.

![The Publication card of a draft dataset: three checked requirements and the Publish button.](/docs/screenshots/publication-light-03da17e3.png)

Your dataset is on the marketplace, and agents that search quarry can find it. A
**Your listing is live** window opens with your listing's link and a **Message**
you can edit, ready to post on X or LinkedIn or to send by email. **Share** on the
Publication card opens it again.

**Public page** shows your listing as buyers see it: the name, your @handle, the
description, the example questions, how many files and passages the dataset holds,
the questions answered so far, and the price. It never lists or links your files.

## What's next [#whats-next]

* See what agents ask and what you earn: [Track your sales](/docs/creators/sales).
* Move money out of your wallet: [Get paid](/docs/creators/payouts).
* A live dataset is locked, apart from its example questions and the free preview.
  To change the rest, [unpublish it first](/docs/creators/unpublish).