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RCD LLM Service Access Procedure

Access to the RCD LLM Service is managed through our resource and allocation management tool, ColdFront. In ColdFront, only faculty can do the initial project creation steps.

Steps for Students​

Important

If you are a student, then a faculty member will need to sponsor your access.

tip

Once your faculty sponsor has completed the steps below AND the allocation has been approved, you can sign in to llm.rcd.clemson.edu and create an API key to confirm your access is active. The API Keys page will not allow key creation until your allocation is active.

The correct faculty member to ask varies depending on what you are trying to achieve.

Using the LLM Service for a specific class or course

Please ask the instructor of the course to sponsor your LLM Service access.

Your instructor does not have to be an existing LLM Service user. They simply need to complete the steps for faculty members below to grant you access.

Using the LLM Service for undergraduate research (through CI or Creative Inquiry)

Please ask the mentor for your CI project to sponsor your LLM Service access.

Your CI mentor does not have to be an existing LLM Service user. They simply need to complete the steps for faculty members below to grant you access.

To learn more about undergraduate research at Clemson, visit the Creative Inquiry program homepage.

Using the LLM Service for graduate research (PhD and Master's students)

Please ask the Principal Investigator (PI) or faculty advisor for your research project to sponsor your LLM Service access.

Your PI or advisor does not have to be an existing LLM Service user. They simply need to complete the steps for faculty members below to grant you access.

Steps for Faculty Members​

To gain access to the RCD LLM Service, faculty must:

  1. Navigate to ColdFront: coldfront.rcd.clemson.edu.
  2. Select a previously created project or create one or more new projects in ColdFront. Projects in ColdFront link users to resource allocations. Each project can link to multiple resources (e.g. LLM Service and Palmetto). Faculty can have multiple projects to separate research groups and classes.
  3. If the project is new, add initial users to the project(s). Project owners and managers can also bulk add accounts by entering a list of usernames in the search field. Optionally, the project owner can delegate a project user to be a manager, allowing a trusted user (e.g. graduate student or lab coordinator) to request allocations and manage users on the project owner's behalf.
  4. Request an RCD LLM Service allocation. Provide a brief justification describing how the service will support your research, education, or related Clemson work, and select the project users who should receive access.

Once the allocation is approved, the users added to the allocation will be able to sign in to llm.rcd.clemson.edu and create API keys. The service will not allow API key creation until the user has an active allocation.

tip

Users can be added and removed from the project or allocation at any time after the initial project creation.

On-Campus or VPN Required

The service is currently accessible only from the Clemson network. Off-campus users must connect to the Clemson University VPN before using the service.

We have a ColdFront documentation section that covers more details. If there are any issues, questions, or feedback, please submit a support request.

You can also schedule an office hours appointment with us to ask questions or walk through the project creation or allocation request process together. Use the Book ColdFront Support link from our office hours options list.

Project Review

Projects on ColdFront must be reviewed annually. If a project is due for review, the Principal Investigator (PI) must complete the short project review process before requesting or renewing any allocations. For details, please refer to the project review documentation.

Next Steps​

Once your access is set up, check out these pages to start using the service: