Setup wizard

The wizard appears on first launch. Every route redirects to it until it is finished, and it can never run again once an admin exists.

Step 1 — Instance identity

Two fields:

• Name — shown across the site (page titles, share cards, email).
• Public domain — used for links in email, share cards, and, if you enable it, your fediverse identity.

For a local test you can leave the domain at its default. For a public instance, set the domain you already pointed at this server — see Domain and HTTPS.

Step 2 — Admin account

Create the first user. This account:

• is automatically the administrator;
• is auto-verified, so you can proceed before email works;
• is signed in immediately when the wizard completes.

Step 3 — Email

Choose how the instance sends password resets and verification mail. There are four modes and a send test email button so you can confirm delivery before finishing.

You can pick the zero-setup console mode now and configure real email later from the admin panel. Nothing here is permanent.

See Email for how to choose.

After the wizard

You are dropped into your live instance, signed in as the admin. Everything the wizard set is editable in the admin panel — you never have to reinstall to change your mind.

Common next steps:

1. Turn on federation if you want to be part of the fediverse (it is off by default and needs a restart).
2. Set up backups.
3. Write your first post.

Re-running the wizard

You cannot, by design — it is guarded so it cannot run once an admin account exists. If you genuinely need a clean slate on a throwaway instance:

docker compose down -v      # deletes ALL data, then start over
docker compose up -d --build