DocsQuick Start Guide
Get your first digital product distributed with Continuata in under 15 minutes.
What You'll Build
By the end of this guide you'll have created a product, uploaded your files, tested the download yourself, and know exactly how to connect FastSpring so customers receive a download link automatically when they purchase.
Step 1: Create Your Account
Create your Continuata organization account:
- Go to continuata.io/auth/signup
- Choose a unique organization ID (e.g.,
my-audio-company) - Enter your organization name and admin details
- Verify your email address
Step 2: Create a Product
A product in Continuata represents one downloadable item — for example, a sample library or a VST plugin.
- In your dashboard, click New Product
- Fill in:
- Product name — the display name customers see (e.g., Epic Drum Kit Vol. 1)
- URL slug — a short identifier used in store integrations and webhooks (e.g.,
epic-drums-v1). Keep it simple and lowercase. It can be edited later from the product page, but changing it will break existing store-integration mappings — treat it as permanent.
- Click Create product
Step 3: Upload Your Files
Upload is done from the Versions tab on your product detail page. Each upload creates a numbered version — you can have multiple versions and promote any one to be the active (downloadable) release.
Browser requirement for upload: Uploading requires Chrome or Edge (any recent version). Safari and Firefox do not support the folder picker used during upload. Your customers can still download in Chrome and Edge natively, or via the free Continuata Bridge on Safari and Firefox. This restriction only applies to you as the vendor uploading files.
- Open your product and click the Versions tab
- In the Upload New Version section, type a version number into the Version field (e.g.,
1.0.0) - Click Select Folder to Upload — your browser's folder picker will open
- Choose the folder that contains your product files. The entire folder structure is preserved exactly as-is for your customers
- Click Upload files to start the upload
- Wait for all five stages to complete:
- Scanning — your folder is walked and each file enumerated; hidden and system files are filtered out
- Hashing — every file is SHA-256-fingerprinted in the browser, then grouped into ~8MB packs (unchanged packs from previous uploads are detected and skipped)
- Uploading — only new packs are transferred to cloud storage
- Verifying — all packs are confirmed present in storage before the version is finalised
- Finalizing — the manifest is written and the version becomes selectable for activation
- On success you'll see "Upload complete! Refreshing versions…"
Pause & resume: you can pause the upload at any time using the Pause button that appears once uploading starts. Current speed (MB/s) and estimated time remaining are shown throughout. On resume, already-uploaded packs are not re-transferred. If the browser reloads or crashes mid-upload, a resume banner on the Versions tab lets you Continue (skipping everything already uploaded) or Discard.
File organisation tip: Organise your folder before uploading. Customers will see the same folder and file names exactly as they appear on your disk. Hidden files and __MACOSX folders are skipped automatically.
Step 4: Test the Download Before Going Live
Always test the download yourself before activating a version for real customers. Use the Test Download button — it generates a short-lived token that bypasses the published check, so you can verify the full download experience without making the product public.
- On the Versions tab, click your newly uploaded version to open its detail page
- Click Test download in the Manage card
- A download link appears — open it in a new tab
- On the download page, click Choose download location and pick a folder on your computer
- Click Install and verify all files arrive correctly
- Try pausing and resuming mid-download to confirm resume works
- Try closing the tab mid-download and re-opening the link — a Resume button should appear to continue from where you left off
What to check
- All files download and open correctly
- Folder structure matches your upload
- Pause and resume works mid-file
- Download speed looks healthy
Browser support for download
- Chrome / Edge — full native support
- Firefox — requires Continuata Bridge
- Safari — requires Continuata Bridge
Step 5: Publish the Version
Once you're happy with your test download, make the version live.
- On the product's Overview tab, click Publish a version — the wizard walks you through picking the version, reviewing what changes, and writing release notes
- Choose Publish without emailing (nobody owns the product yet, so there's nobody to announce to). Publishing a version on a Draft product automatically sets the product to Published — no separate status change needed
- The version now shows a green Live badge on the Versions tab
Live version vs Published product: The live version determines which set of files a customer gets when they download — you can switch versions at any time. A published product accepts real customer download requests at all. The product stays on Draft while you set up, and goes Published automatically the first time you publish a version. Later, when you publish updates to a product people own, the same wizard lets you email everyone — see Updates & Emails.
Step 6: Tell Customers About the Portal
Customers don't need to keep track of token URLs. Anyone who has bought from you can go to continuata.io/my, enter their purchase email, and self-serve every download tied to that address — even across multiple vendors. Link this from your post-purchase emails and your store's "Where's my download?" support page.
- No password required — verification is via emailed link
- Customers can add additional emails on the same account if they purchased under different ones
- Each purchase shows its update state — "Update available" with an Update button when you publish a new version, "Up to date" otherwise
- Always available at
https://continuata.io/my