Onboarding

Onboarding v1 should be short. The user should meet their bestie quickly. Full configuration can come later through follow-up commands.

Goal

Required v1 steps:

1. Create character basics.
2. Connect an LLM provider.
3. Run a terminal test chat.

Telegram and memory setup can be follow-up commands.

Command

bestie onboard
bestie onboard --skip-provider-test

In local development:

bestie onboard
bestie onboard --skip-provider-test

Use --skip-provider-test for offline setup, smoke tests, slow providers, or unavailable providers. It still creates config, env, character, prompt, and log files.

Flow

Welcome
  -> choose character name
  -> choose what agent calls user
  -> choose vibe preset
  -> choose tone sliders
  -> choose memory write policy
  -> choose LLM provider
  -> enter API key
  -> write config
  -> test LLM unless --skip-provider-test is set
  -> start terminal chat

Character questions

• What should your bestie be called?
• What should it call you?
• Choose vibe preset:
  • Funny Savage Bestie
  • Soft Emotional Bestie
  • Productivity Coach Bestie
  • Chaotic Gen Z Friend
  • Calm Brutally Honest Mentor
  • Custom
• Roast level 1-10.
• Warmth level 1-10.
• Bluntness level 1-10.
• Language: Vietnamese, English, or mixed.
• Memory write policy: ask, allow, or deny. Default: ask.
• Emoji level: none, light, or expressive.
• Topics it should never joke about.

LLM questions

Supported setup directions:

• QuotaCheap
• OpenAI
• OpenRouter
• Custom OpenAI-compatible

Required values:

• base URL
• model
• API key

Secrets go into .bestie/.env, not .bestie/config.json.

Validation

Onboarding should validate:

• API key presence.
• Config path writability.
• Logs path writability.
• Provider test result, when it runs.
• Provider test failure is explained but does not delete or block local files.
• memory.writePolicy is written to config.

Follow-up commands

bestie telegram setup
bestie memory status
bestie doctor

Principle

Do not ask users to configure everything before they feel the product. Fast first magic beats complete first setup. Vibe first, bureaucracy later. Đỡ tự bắn vào chân.