diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/page.tsx b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/page.tsx
index c306de5..4177cbc 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/page.tsx
@@ -21,10 +21,19 @@ import { BreachTimeline } from "@/components/dashboard/BreachTimeline"
 import { TopBreaches } from "@/components/dashboard/TopBreaches"
 import { DataTypeRadar } from "@/components/dashboard/DataTypeRadar"
 import { AlertVelocity } from "@/components/dashboard/AlertVelocity"
+import { redirect } from "next/navigation"
 import type { DashboardPreset } from "@/types/dashboard"
 
 export default async function DashboardPage() {
   const session = await auth()
+
+  const [employeeCount, apiKeyCount] = await Promise.all([
+    prisma.employee.count({ where: { companyId: session!.user.companyId } }),
+    prisma.apiCredential.count({ where: { companyId: session!.user.companyId } }),
+  ])
+
+  if (employeeCount === 0 && apiKeyCount === 0) redirect("/setup")
+
   const [data, presets, user] = await Promise.all([
     getDashboardData(session!.user.companyId),
     prisma.dashboardPreset.findMany({
diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/layout.tsx b/src/app/(dashboard)/layout.tsx
index 7fe2686..bc902f7 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/layout.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/layout.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { auth } from "@/auth"
 import { redirect } from "next/navigation"
 import { Sidebar } from "@/components/layout/Sidebar"
 import { Topbar } from "@/components/layout/Topbar"
+import { RoutePrefetcher } from "@/components/layout/RoutePrefetcher"
 import { Providers } from "@/components/providers"
 import { getOpenAlertCount } from "@/lib/alerts"
 
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ export default async function DashboardLayout({
 
   return (
     <Providers>
+      <RoutePrefetcher />
       <div className="flex h-screen overflow-hidden">
         <Sidebar
           companyName={session.user.name ?? ""}
diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/setup/page.tsx b/src/app/(dashboard)/setup/page.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b4381ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/setup/page.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { redirect } from "next/navigation"
+import { auth } from "@/auth"
+import { prisma } from "@/lib/prisma"
+import { SetupChecklist } from "@/components/dashboard/SetupChecklist"
+
+export default async function SetupPage() {
+  const session = await auth()
+  const companyId = session!.user.companyId
+
+  const [employeeCount, apiKeyCount] = await Promise.all([
+    prisma.employee.count({ where: { companyId } }),
+    prisma.apiCredential.count({ where: { companyId } }),
+  ])
+
+  if (employeeCount > 0 || apiKeyCount > 0) redirect("/dashboard")
+
+  return (
+    <SetupChecklist
+      hasEmployees={employeeCount > 0}
+      hasApiKey={apiKeyCount > 0}
+      isAdmin={session!.user.role === "ADMIN"}
+    />
+  )
+}
diff --git a/src/components/dashboard/SetupChecklist.tsx b/src/components/dashboard/SetupChecklist.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..66c9fde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/dashboard/SetupChecklist.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+import Link from "next/link"
+import {
+  CheckCircle2,
+  Circle,
+  Database,
+  KeyRound,
+  ScanSearch,
+  ArrowRight,
+  ExternalLink,
+} from "lucide-react"
+import { cn } from "@/lib/utils"
+
+type Step = {
+  icon: typeof Database
+  title: string
+  description: string
+  href: string
+  cta: string
+  done: boolean
+}
+
+export function SetupChecklist({
+  hasEmployees,
+  hasApiKey,
+  isAdmin,
+}: {
+  hasEmployees: boolean
+  hasApiKey: boolean
+  isAdmin: boolean
+}) {
+  const steps: Step[] = [
+    {
+      icon: Database,
+      title: "Add employees to monitor",
+      description: "Connect a corporate directory (Azure AD, Google Workspace, LDAP...) to import the people you want to watch.",
+      href: "/data-sources",
+      cta: "Connect a data source",
+      done: hasEmployees,
+    },
+    {
+      icon: KeyRound,
+      title: "Add a breach intelligence key",
+      description: "A provider key (HIBP, Dehashed...) lets DataShield look your employees up against known breaches.",
+      href: "/data-api",
+      cta: "Add an API key",
+      done: hasApiKey,
+    },
+    {
+      icon: ScanSearch,
+      title: "Run your first scan",
+      description: "Once people and a key are in place, scan to detect exposures and generate alerts.",
+      href: "/employees",
+      cta: "Go to employees",
+      done: false,
+    },
+  ]
+
+  return (
+    <div className="h-full overflow-y-auto p-6">
+      <div className="mx-auto max-w-2xl">
+        <div className="mb-8">
+          <h2 className="text-xl font-semibold text-foreground">Welcome to DataShield</h2>
+          <p className="mt-1 text-sm text-muted-foreground">
+            Self-hosted monitoring of your employees exposure in known data breaches. Complete
+            these steps to start monitoring.
+          </p>
+        </div>
+
+        <ol className="space-y-3">
+          {steps.map((step, i) => (
+            <li
+              key={step.href}
+              className={cn(
+                "flex items-start gap-4 rounded-xl border border-border bg-card p-4",
+                step.done && "opacity-60"
+              )}
+            >
+              <div className="mt-0.5 shrink-0">
+                {step.done ? (
+                  <CheckCircle2 className="size-5 text-severity-ok" />
+                ) : (
+                  <Circle className="size-5 text-muted-foreground" />
+                )}
+              </div>
+              <div className="min-w-0 flex-1">
+                <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+                  <step.icon className="size-4 text-muted-foreground" />
+                  <h3 className="text-sm font-medium text-foreground">
+                    {i + 1}. {step.title}
+                  </h3>
+                </div>
+                <p className="mt-1 text-sm text-muted-foreground">{step.description}</p>
+                {!step.done && (
+                  <Link
+                    href={step.href}
+                    className="mt-2 inline-flex items-center gap-1 text-sm font-medium text-sidebar-primary hover:underline"
+                  >
+                    {step.cta}
+                    <ArrowRight className="size-3.5" />
+                  </Link>
+                )}
+              </div>
+            </li>
+          ))}
+        </ol>
+
+        {!isAdmin && (
+          <p className="mt-4 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+            Data sources and API keys are managed by admins. Ask an admin to complete the setup.
+          </p>
+        )}
+
+        <div className="mt-8 rounded-xl border border-border bg-muted/30 p-4">
+          <p className="text-sm text-foreground">Thanks for trying DataShield.</p>
+          <p className="mt-1 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+            It is an open-source project built to make breach exposure visible and actionable.
+            Found a bug or have an idea? Your feedback genuinely helps it grow.
+          </p>
+          <a
+            href="https://github.com/WhiteMuush/DataShield/issues"
+            target="_blank"
+            rel="noreferrer"
+            className="mt-2 inline-flex items-center gap-1 text-xs font-medium text-sidebar-primary hover:underline"
+          >
+            Open an issue or share feedback
+            <ExternalLink className="size-3" />
+          </a>
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/src/components/layout/RoutePrefetcher.tsx b/src/components/layout/RoutePrefetcher.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37901be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/layout/RoutePrefetcher.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+"use client"
+
+import { useEffect } from "react"
+import { useRouter } from "next/navigation"
+
+// Main routes warmed in the background after first paint so later
+// navigation is instant. Keep in sync with the sidebar nav.
+const ROUTES = [
+  "/dashboard",
+  "/employees",
+  "/alerts",
+  "/reports",
+  "/data-sources",
+  "/data-api",
+]
+
+export function RoutePrefetcher() {
+  const router = useRouter()
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const run = () => ROUTES.forEach((route) => router.prefetch(route))
+    if ("requestIdleCallback" in window) {
+      const id = requestIdleCallback(run)
+      return () => cancelIdleCallback(id)
+    }
+    const id = setTimeout(run, 200)
+    return () => clearTimeout(id)
+  }, [router])
+
+  return null
+}