diff --git a/charts/nebari-app/README.md b/charts/nebari-app/README.md
index 9527748..a1916a7 100644
--- a/charts/nebari-app/README.md
+++ b/charts/nebari-app/README.md
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ A [library](https://helm.sh/docs/chart_template_guide/getting_started/#the-chart
 
 The chart exposes one named template, `nebari-app.nebariApp`, that acts as a pure function: callers pass `metadata` and `spec` dicts and the template renders a `NebariApp` resource. It is not installable on its own — it is consumed as a [chart dependency](https://helm.sh/docs/helm/helm_dependency/).
 
+> New here? For a step-by-step, end-to-end walkthrough (dependency → values → template → apply → verify), start with [Onboarding an app with the nebari-app Helm chart](../../docs/using-the-nebari-app-chart.md). This README is the reference for the template contract itself.
+
 ## Install as a dependency
 
 Add the chart to your consumer chart's `Chart.yaml`:
diff --git a/docs/quickstart.md b/docs/quickstart.md
index 49d0ee1..19cbb0d 100644
--- a/docs/quickstart.md
+++ b/docs/quickstart.md
@@ -293,6 +293,7 @@ make teardown
 
 ## Next Steps
 
+- **[Using the nebari-app Helm chart](using-the-nebari-app-chart.md)** - Package this app as a reusable, versioned Software Pack instead of hand-written YAML
 - **[Platform Setup](platform-setup.md)** - Production infrastructure setup
 - **[Configuration Reference](configuration-reference.md)** - Complete NebariApp CRD documentation
 - **[Reconciler Architecture](reconcilers/README.md)** - How the operator works internally
diff --git a/docs/using-the-nebari-app-chart.md b/docs/using-the-nebari-app-chart.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8433c5
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+++ b/docs/using-the-nebari-app-chart.md
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+# Onboarding an app with the `nebari-app` Helm chart
+
+This is a task-oriented walkthrough: it takes you from an empty chart to a running, operator-managed app using the [`nebari-app`](../charts/nebari-app) library chart. It packages the same `NebariApp` resource you write by hand in the [Quick Start](quickstart.md), so it is reusable, versioned, and shippable as a Nebari Software Pack.
+
+- For the **template contract and every option** (required fields, `mergeOverwrite`, multiple apps per chart), see the chart's own [`charts/nebari-app/README.md`](../charts/nebari-app/README.md).
+- For **complete, copy-me examples** in several styles (raw YAML, Helm, Kustomize, wrapping an existing chart), see [`nebari-dev/software-pack-template`](https://github.com/nebari-dev/software-pack-template).
+
+This page is the connective tissue between those two: the end-to-end path, in order.
+
+## What the chart is
+
+`nebari-app` is a Helm **library** chart. It is not installable on its own — it exposes one named template, `nebari-app.nebariApp`, that renders a `NebariApp` custom resource from a `metadata` dict and a `spec` dict. You consume it as a dependency of *your* chart (a "Software Pack") and call the template from your own manifest.
+
+Everything the operator does for the app — routing, TLS, SSO, landing-page registration — is driven by the `spec` you pass. The chart is a thin, validated wrapper around that one resource.
+
+## Before you start
+
+- A cluster with the Nebari Operator installed and the `NebariApp` CRD present (`make deploy`, or see the [Quick Start](quickstart.md)).
+- Helm 3.8+ (for OCI registry support).
+- Your app already has, or will have, a `Service` for the operator to route to.
+
+## Step 1 — Add `nebari-app` as a dependency
+
+In your consumer chart's `Chart.yaml`:
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: v2
+name: my-pack
+description: My Nebari Software Pack
+type: application
+version: 0.1.0
+appVersion: "1.0.0"
+
+dependencies:
+  - name: nebari-app
+    version: ">=0.1.0-0"
+    repository: oci://quay.io/nebari/charts
+```
+
+During local development you can point at a checked-out copy instead:
+
+```yaml
+dependencies:
+  - name: nebari-app
+    version: ">=0.1.0-0"
+    repository: file://../nebari-app
+```
+
+Then pull it in:
+
+```bash
+helm dependency build
+```
+
+## Step 2 — Put the app's config in `values.yaml`
+
+Keep the whole `NebariApp` spec under one key so callers can override it cleanly:
+
+```yaml
+# values.yaml
+nebariApp:
+  hostname: my-app.nebari.example.com
+  service:
+    name: my-app
+    port: 8080
+  routing:
+    routes:
+      - pathPrefix: /
+  # auth, landingPage, etc. are optional — add them as you need them.
+  # Full field list: ../charts/nebari-app/README.md and docs/api-reference.md
+```
+
+## Step 3 — Render the `NebariApp` from a template
+
+Add one manifest that calls the library template, passing `metadata` and the `spec` from values:
+
+```yaml
+# templates/nebariapp.yaml
+{{ include "nebari-app.nebariApp" (dict
+    "metadata" (dict
+      "name"      .Release.Name
+      "namespace" .Release.Namespace
+      "labels"    (dict "app.kubernetes.io/name" .Chart.Name)
+    )
+    "spec" .Values.nebariApp
+) }}
+```
+
+The template **aborts the render** if any required field is missing or empty: `metadata.name`, `spec.hostname`, `spec.service.name`, `spec.service.port` (and rejects `port < 1`). Everything else in the spec is validated API-server-side at apply time.
+
+> Shipping the workload too? Add your `Deployment` and `Service` as normal templates in the same chart. The `service.name`/`service.port` in the spec must match that `Service`. See the `basic-nginx` example in `software-pack-template` for a chart that bundles both.
+
+## Step 4 — Opt the namespace in
+
+The operator **ignores** `NebariApp` resources in namespaces that are not opted in. Label the target namespace once:
+
+```bash
+kubectl label namespace my-namespace nebari.dev/managed=true
+```
+
+The chart does not template this label (it would need cluster-admin over a shared resource); do it out-of-band, or add a `Namespace` resource to your chart if it owns the namespace.
+
+## Step 5 — Validate before you apply
+
+Render locally and, ideally, dry-run against the API server to catch schema errors the library template does not check:
+
+```bash
+# Render only — catches missing required fields:
+helm template my-release . -n my-namespace
+
+# Full schema check — needs a cluster with the CRD installed:
+helm template my-release . -n my-namespace | kubectl apply --dry-run=server -f -
+```
+
+## Step 6 — Install and verify
+
+```bash
+helm install my-release . -n my-namespace --create-namespace
+```
+
+Watch the operator reconcile it. The `NebariApp` walks its conditions to `Ready`:
+
+```bash
+kubectl get nebariapp -n my-namespace
+kubectl describe nebariapp my-release -n my-namespace
+```
+
+A healthy app reports `Ready=True` with `RoutingReady`, `TLSReady`, and (if auth is enabled) `AuthReady` all true, and populates `status.serviceDiscovery`. The operator will have created the `HTTPRoute` (and `Certificate`, `SecurityPolicy`, etc. as configured):
+
+```bash
+kubectl get httproute -n my-namespace
+```
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `helm template` fails with `spec.hostname is required` (or `service.name`/`service.port`) | A required field is missing or empty in your values | Set it in `values.yaml`; these are enforced at render time by the library template |
+| `spec.service.port must be >= 1` | Port rendered as `0` or negative | `required` treats `0` as present — the template rejects it explicitly; pass a real port |
+| Resource applies but the operator never touches it (no conditions, no HTTPRoute) | Namespace not opted in | `kubectl label namespace <ns> nebari.dev/managed=true` |
+| `no matches for kind "NebariApp"` on apply | CRD not installed | Install the operator / CRDs (`make install` or `make deploy`) |
+| `AuthReady=False` | Keycloak unreachable or auth config wrong | Check the operator logs and the `auth` block; see [docs/configuration-reference.md](configuration-reference.md) |
+
+## Where to go next
+
+- [`charts/nebari-app/README.md`](../charts/nebari-app/README.md) — the full template contract: `mergeOverwrite` for computed service values, emitting multiple `NebariApp`s from one chart, and the exact required-field list.
+- [docs/configuration-reference.md](configuration-reference.md) — every `spec` field with examples.
+- [docs/api-reference.md](api-reference.md) — the generated CRD reference.
+- [`nebari-dev/software-pack-template`](https://github.com/nebari-dev/software-pack-template) — complete runnable Software Packs to copy from.