# CDE quick start guide

Community Dashboard Editor (CDE) helps you easily create and add CTools dashboards. The CDE tool is a graphical dashboard editor which provides access to the dashboard components in Community Dashboard Framework (CDF). This tool uses a grid for the layout which allows you to create your own dashboards without needing a lot of JavaScript or HTML expertise. Before beginning, be sure you have [activated the CDE plugin](/pba-ctools/9.3-ctools/activate-cde.md).

For instructions on creating and adding CTools dashboards, see the following topics:

* [Plan your dashboard](/pba-ctools/9.3-ctools/cde-quick-start-guide/plan-your-dashboard.md)
* [Open CDE](/pba-ctools/9.3-ctools/cde-quick-start-guide/open-cde-ctools-cde-quick-start.md)
* [Create your first CDE dashboard](/pba-ctools/9.3-ctools/cde-quick-start-guide/create-your-first-cde-dashboard.md)


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.pentaho.com/pba-ctools/9.3-ctools/cde-quick-start-guide.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.