Set Up a Space Server, Step by Step

A space is a shared place with its own channels, where you talk with other people and their agents. Run Your Own Space Server explains what the setup command does. This page walks you through it, one step at a time. You end up with a web address like https://your-space.fly.dev, your own members, and your own data.

You run one command in your terminal. It shows you everything it plans to create and what may cost money. It creates nothing until you type your app name to agree. After that, it walks you through making the owner account in your browser.

What you get

• Your own space server on your own accounts. The server runs on Fly, the database on Neon, and shared files in a private Tigris storage bucket that Fly sets up for you.
• Your data and your bills are yours. Each of those companies bills your account directly. DorkOS never sees your data or your payment details.
• No DorkOS account needed. People sign up with an email and password on your space server itself. Nothing in this guide needs DorkOS Cloud.

What you need

• A Mac. Setup has been tested on macOS with Apple Silicon. Windows and Linux have not been tested.

• A Fly account and a Neon account, each with a payment method. Setup can add charges to both. See Fly pricing and Neon pricing before you start.

• Four command-line tools, signed in:

  npm install -g dorkos   # the DorkOS command
  fly auth login          # Fly's command, flyctl: https://fly.io/docs/flyctl/install/
  neonctl auth            # Neon's command: https://neon.com/docs/reference/neon-cli
  gh auth login           # GitHub's command: https://cli.github.com

  DorkOS uses gh to download the exact space server release and check that DorkOS really published it. If fly or neonctl is too old, setup tells you which one to update before it creates anything.

Preview: this tool list comes from runs on accounts that were already set up. A brand-new account may need something it does not mention.

Pick your names and places

You choose five things. Setup never picks an account or a region for you.

The database and the file bucket take the same name as the app unless you set --project-name or --bucket-name. The server is one small, always-on Fly Machine (shared-cpu-1x) unless you set --machine-size. Run dorkos community deploy --help to see every option.

Preview the plan first

Add --dry-run to see the whole plan without creating anything:

dorkos community deploy \
  --fly-org your-fly-org \
  --fly-region ord \
  --neon-org your-neon-org-id \
  --neon-region aws-us-east-2 \
  --app-name your-space \
  --dry-run

The plan shows:

• the DorkOS release and the exact server image it will run,
• the Fly app, its organization and region, and the one Machine,
• the Neon project, its organization and region,
• the private Tigris bucket,
• which accounts may be charged, with links to their pricing pages.

It also lists a few readiness checks marked unknown: whether your Fly and Neon roles are allowed to create things, and whether billing and limits allow it. Nobody can know those for sure until the first thing is created, so setup says unknown rather than guess. If one turns out to be a problem, setup stops and tells you what exists so far.

Start setup

Run the same command without --dry-run. Setup shows the plan again, then asks you to agree:

Type your-space to create these resources:

Type the app name exactly. There is no way to skip this step, so setup always runs in a terminal you are watching.

Next, setup checks that it can use your clipboard, because that is how it hands you a one-time secret later. It asks first, because this replaces whatever you have copied:

Type COPY TEST to replace your current clipboard with harmless DorkOS test text:

Then it creates the Fly app, the Neon database and the Tigris bucket, checking each one before it moves on. The first time you use Tigris, Fly asks you to accept Tigris's terms. Setup pauses for this:

Fly requires separate Tigris terms acceptance. Accept them in Fly, then type accept:

Accept the terms on Fly's site, come back, and type accept.

Preview: this terms step has only been seen on an account that had used Fly before. On a brand-new Fly account, it may look different.

Last, setup puts the server's private settings on Fly and starts it. It checks that the right image is running on exactly one Machine and that the server answers.

If setup stops

Setup can stop partway: you press Control-C, your internet drops, or Fly or Neon refuses a step. Nothing is lost, and nothing is deleted on its own.

When it stops, setup prints Space setup stopped. and then:

• every piece it has already created, which account owns it, and that it may cost money,
• a command to look at each piece, and a link to its page on Fly or Neon,
• a complete command to pick up where it left off, under Resume with:.

The pick-up command looks like this, with your own choices filled in:

dorkos community deploy --resume <run-id> --version <version> --fly-org ... --app-name your-space ...

Copy it exactly. It must use the same choices as the first run, and setup refuses to continue if they changed.

If you lost the output, list the setups that stopped:

dorkos community deploy --list-incomplete

Each line starts with a run ID. If you run dorkos community deploy --resume <run-id> with only that ID, setup prints what exists and the full pick-up command, then stops with --app-name is required. That is expected: copy the full command it printed and run that.

Sometimes setup cannot tell whether a step it started really created something. Then it does not offer to resume. It gives you --remove-uncertain <run-id> instead, which checks that one thing first. If setup stops partway explains what it does, and how to give up on a setup with --forget.

Setup saves its progress in a small file in your DorkOS data folder (~/.dork/launches/community/). That file holds names and IDs, never passwords or keys.

These were tried on a real server in October 2026: a Control-C during the deploy, a Fly or Neon key that was not allowed to create things, the printed list checked against what really existed, and a resume that finished.

Preview: one case has not been tried on a real server yet: a Control-C in the moment just after setup starts to create something. Automated tests cover it.

Create the owner account

When the server is up, setup asks:

Open https://your-space.fly.dev and copy the one-time setup secret? Type copy:

Type copy. Setup opens your browser (or prints the address for you to open) and puts the setup secret on your clipboard. The setup secret is a one-time password that proves you are the person who ran setup. Setup clears your clipboard 30 seconds later, but a clipboard history app may keep a copy.

In the browser:

1. Paste the secret into Setup secret and choose Continue.
2. Choose Create account.
3. Fill in Your name, Email, Password, Space name and First channel.
4. Choose Create space.

Back in the terminal, press Enter. Setup checks that your owner account exists, then replaces the setup secret on the server. The one you copied stops working, so nobody who saw it can use it later.

Finally, setup asks you to try it out: post one message, then upload and download one file. Type complete when both work.

If you close the terminal before this, run the pick-up command. Setup makes a new setup secret if you never finished creating the owner account.

What "complete" means, and what it does not

The last screen starts with Space setup is complete at and your address. It says the server passed its health checks. It also says Recovery readiness: not verified. That is on purpose.

Invite the first person

In your space, open a channel and choose Manage. Under Invite someone, pick a Channel (or leave it on Space access), then choose Create invite. Copy the One-time invite link and send it privately. A new link lasts seven days and lets in one person unless an admin changes that.

The person opens the link and chooses Continue. They choose Create an account on this server, fill it in, and finish with Join space. The Spaces guide covers invites, minimum ages and more.

A second person joining has been tried on a server made by this setup, in October 2026.

Connect DorkOS and add an agent

Your space works on its own in a browser. Connecting the DorkOS app lets you read and post from DorkOS, and lets people in a channel mention an agent you choose. Switch on Spaces first (see the note at the top of this page).

1. In DorkOS, open the menu at the top of the sidebar. Choose Add a space, then Join a space.
2. In Space address or invitation link, enter your address, such as https://your-space.fly.dev. Check the Name for this installation, then choose Connect.
3. Choose Open (your space's name) to approve. On the page that opens, sign in and choose Approve connection. Back in DorkOS, the space appears in the menu.
4. Open a channel and choose Members. Under My agents, pick a Local agent and choose Add to space.
5. Choose Join channel beside that agent. Now anyone in the channel can write its handle, such as @researcher, to ask it something.

More detail, including how to stop or remove an agent, is in Join a space and Add an agent to a space's channel.

Connecting DorkOS, adding an agent, and using the pages by keyboard and at phone width were tried on a server made by this setup, in October 2026. The button names above are from the current release.

Backups and upgrades

Your space server has two things to back up: the database and the files. A backup of only one cannot bring the other back. The full steps are in Back up and upgrade a server made with guided setup. They cover finding what is running, pausing writes, copying the database and every file, practicing a restore, and upgrading to a new release.

Backing up, restoring into a test copy, and upgrading from one release to the next (v0.96.0 to v0.97.0) have been tried on a server made by guided setup, in early October 2026.

Preview: rolling back to an older release has not been tried yet on a server made by guided setup. Follow the linked steps with care.

Upgrades only move forward. Take and check a backup before every upgrade, because the only way back is to restore that backup.

Remove your space server

Removing a space server deletes its data for good. Take a backup first if you might want it back.

Check each name before you delete it. The commands below use the app name for all three. If you set --bucket-name or --project-name when you ran setup, use those names for the bucket and the database instead. Then delete the file bucket, the database and the server, in that order:

fly storage destroy your-space --app your-space
neonctl projects list --org-id your-neon-org-id    # find the project ID for your-space (or your --project-name)
neonctl projects delete <project-id>
fly apps destroy your-space

Afterwards, fly apps list, fly storage list and neonctl projects list should no longer show them.

Delete the bucket's access key too

Deleting the bucket does not delete the access key Fly made for it. That key still works, even with the bucket gone, until you delete it yourself. Do it one of two ways:

• In the Fly dashboard: run fly storage dashboard --org your-fly-org, open Access Keys, find the key named after the bucket (usually your-space_access_key), and delete it.

• From the command line: install the Tigris command, sign in, then delete the key by its ID (it starts with tid_):

  npm install -g @tigrisdata/cli
  tigris login oauth            # choose "Sign in with Fly"
  tigris access-keys list       # find the key named after your bucket
  tigris access-keys delete <tid_...>

Preview: these removal steps have not yet been followed on a brand-new account. Fly may leave a record of the deleted bucket, or the app's private network, behind.

Get help

• dorkos community deploy --help lists every option.
• The manual Fly recipe explains each piece setup creates, for when you need to fix something by hand.
• The operations guide covers running a space server day to day: mail, limits, keys and recovery.
• Something went wrong, or a step here was unclear? Open an issue. Include what setup printed, but never your setup secret, passwords or keys.