> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.garden.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.garden.io/acorn-0.12/tutorials/your-first-project/2-connect-to-a-cluster.md).

# 2. Connect to a Cluster

In order to deploy your new project, you (perhaps obviously) need somewhere to deploy it to.

Here we hit a bit of a fork in the road, since you have a choice between setting up a local Kubernetes cluster on your dev machine *or* to connect to a remote cluster.

We have separate guides for each of these options. Pick the one you prefer, walk through that guide, and then come back here or skip straight to the [next section](/acorn-0.12/tutorials/your-first-project/3-deploy-and-test.md).

* [Local Kubernetes](/acorn-0.12/kubernetes-plugins/local-k8s.md)
* [Remote Kubernetes](/acorn-0.12/kubernetes-plugins/remote-k8s.md)

Once you've set up your cluster and updated your project configuration accordingly, we can move on to [deploying and testing your project](/acorn-0.12/tutorials/your-first-project/3-deploy-and-test.md).