Getting started

The first five minutes, in order.

1. An account, or a visit

Create Account makes an identity on this device: a username, a passphrase that seals your keys here, and — if you leave "Let me sign in from other devices" on — a sealed copy on the server so your phone can open the same account. Where the operator allows it, Continue as a guest is one tap: a name for the visit, nothing kept when the tab closes.

The name box says as you type whether a name is free; a taken one offers a free-looking one beside it. Suggest a strong passphrase fills both boxes with four words and a number, which is easier to remember than a string of symbols and stronger than most of them.

2. Say hello

The first room is open. The box at the bottom sends on Enter and starts a new line on Shift+Enter. @name mentions somebody, :tada: is an emoji, and / at the start of a line is a command — /help lists them.

3. Settings, once

The cog at the top of the rail, or Ctrl+,. The Getting started list at the top ticks itself off as you go. Pick a theme; add a passkey so the next sign-in is a touch rather than a passphrase; decide whether this device should show notifications.

4. Where things are

The rail on the left is threads: rooms above, direct messages below, people underneath. A press on a name is that person's menu; a press on a room's header line is its members. ? outside the message box lists every keyboard shortcut.

5. The one thing to remember

The server never has your passphrase. Another device with the account signed in can set a new one; nothing else can. A passkey, or the synced copy of your keys, is what makes losing this device survivable — set one of them up before you need it.

Next: Signing in, and Getting around.

Last changed 2026-09-11