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Post-install

After deploying via Docker or bare metal, complete these steps.

Phase 6 — DB-backed user profiles

Profile fields (display_name, timezone, email addresses, log/alerts channels, worker overrides, trusted email senders, disabled skills) live in the user_profiles SQLite table. They're auto-seeded the first time a user logs into the web UI, or you can pre-seed via Ansible: 

istota user ensure --name alice --display-name "Alice" \
  --tz "America/Los_Angeles" --email alice@example.com
The web UI at /istota/settings lets each user edit their own profile and add per-user resources (calendars, folders, modules) without touching config.toml. Operator-supplied resources from config.toml show up alongside as read-only.

Authenticate Claude CLI

sudo -u istota HOME=/srv/app/istota claude login

docker compose exec istota claude login

Invite the bot to Talk

In Nextcloud, open Talk and add the bot's user (default: istota) to a conversation. The bot automatically starts polling conversations it's a member of.

Test execution

sudo -u istota HOME=/srv/app/istota \
  /srv/app/istota/.venv/bin/istota task "Hello" -u alice -x

docker compose exec istota istota task "Hello" -u alice -x

Service management (bare metal)

systemctl status istota-scheduler
systemctl restart istota-scheduler
journalctl -u istota-scheduler -f

User workspace

After the bot runs for the first time for a user, it creates a directory structure under the Nextcloud mount:

/Users/alice/
├── istota/              # Shared with user via OCS
│   ├── config/
│   │   ├── USER.md          # Persistent memory
│   │   ├── TASKS.md         # File-based task queue
│   │   ├── PERSONA.md       # Personality customization
│   │   ├── BRIEFINGS.md     # Briefing schedule
│   │   ├── CRON.md          # Scheduled jobs
│   │   └── HEARTBEAT.md     # Health monitoring config
│   ├── exports/             # Bot-generated files
│   ├── scripts/             # User's reusable Python scripts
│   └── examples/            # Reference documentation
├── inbox/               # Files from email attachments
├── memories/            # Dated memories from sleep cycle (YYYY-MM-DD.md)
└── shared/              # Auto-organized files shared with bot

Users can edit these files through the Nextcloud web UI, desktop client, or any text editor with WebDAV access. See per-user configuration for details on each file.

What to try next

  • Send a message in Talk and watch the bot respond
  • Edit PERSONA.md to customize the bot's personality
  • Set up a briefing for morning summaries
  • Configure scheduled jobs via CRON.md
  • Check out the skills index to see what the bot can do