Install on a VPS

This guide walks you through deploying Comis on a fresh VPS (Virtual Private Server). By the end you will have a running daemon managed by systemd, with your AI agent reachable through Telegram, Discord, or any supported channel. The instructions work on any provider that gives you an Ubuntu server with root SSH access — Hostinger, DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr, Linode, AWS Lightsail, and others.

You don’t need to understand the technical details to use this feature. The configuration examples below are copy-paste ready.

What you need

Before you start, have these ready:

Item	Where to get it
A VPS running Ubuntu 22.04+ with at least 1 GB RAM	Your hosting provider’s dashboard
Root SSH access to the server	Your provider sends credentials after purchase
An AI provider API key (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google)	Anthropic Console, OpenAI Platform, or Google AI Studio
A chat channel bot token (optional)	See the Channels section for setup guides

Most providers offer an Ubuntu image by default. If you have a choice, pick Ubuntu 24.04 LTS — it has the best compatibility with Comis.

Step 1: Connect to your server

Open a terminal on your computer and SSH into your VPS. Replace the IP address with your server’s address.

ssh root@your-server-ip

Your provider may give you a password or an SSH key. Hostinger, for example, shows the password in the VPS dashboard under SSH Access.

If your provider gives you a password, you will be prompted to enter it after running the SSH command. You can also set up SSH keys later for passwordless login.

Step 2: Install Comis

Run the one-line installer. It handles everything: Node.js, system packages, a dedicated comis user, systemd service, and the Comis package itself.

curl -fsSL https://comis.ai/install.sh | bash

The installer takes 2-3 minutes. You will see a progress log like this:

  COMIS Installer
  Friendly by nature. Powerful by design.

  [1/4] Preparing system (as root)
  ✓ Node.js v22 installed
  ✓ System dependencies ready
  ✓ User 'comis' created

  [2/4] Installing Comis
  ✓ Comis npm package installed

  [2/4] Registering daemon as a service
  ✓ comis.service started
  ✓ Daemon is responding on the gateway port

  Comis installed successfully (1.0.53)!

Run the installer as root (the standard VPS login). If you run it as a regular user instead, it asks to re-run itself with sudo — either way it creates a dedicated comis user with restricted permissions and runs the daemon under that user. This is the secure default; pass --no-user only if you explicitly want the daemon running as your login user.

Browser tool

The browser tool ships enabled by default, so the default install already provisions Chrome + the headless libs + the headed Xvfb stack (best-effort — see the Linux install guide’s fallback note). You only need a flag to opt out or to switch to the stealth build:

# Default install — browser tool + headed stack provisioned best-effort
curl -fsSL https://comis.ai/install.sh | bash

# Minimal footprint — skip the browser runtime entirely
curl -fsSL https://comis.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --without-browser

# Stealth Chromium — bypasses Cloudflare Turnstile, FingerprintJS,
# BrowserScan, and Reddit's secondary fingerprint check
curl -fsSL https://comis.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --with-cloakbrowser

VPS providers are pre-blocked by Reddit, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, and many anti-bot services at the IP layer. Hostinger, DigitalOcean, AWS, Hetzner — all flagged regardless of which browser you run. CloakBrowser does not include a proxy: it fixes browser-fingerprint detection, not IP reputation. If you want Reddit/social scraping from a VPS, pair --with-cloakbrowser with a residential proxy. If you only need to hit Cloudflare-protected sites that don’t blocklist VPS ranges, the stealth flag alone is enough.Sites verified bypassed on a Hostinger VPS with --with-cloakbrowser: bot.incolumitas.com (1 fail vs 4 for stock Chrome), browserscan.net (Normal vs Robot). Reddit and X stayed blocked due to IP filtering, not fingerprint detection.

See agent-tools/browser for the full flag matrix, sandbox details, and license terms (CloakBrowser’s binary is free for self-hosted use; OEM license needed for redistributing to third-party customers).

Optional: DuckDB for SQL/JSONPath result queries

The orchestrate tool’s ResultRef.sql() / ResultRef.jsonpath() helpers run the DuckDB CLI daemon-side to query a high-volume tabular result without re-entering the whole payload into context. DuckDB is optional: if it is absent, sql/jsonpath honest-degrade to an { error } and the other extraction methods (read/grep/jq) keep working. DuckDB is not in the Debian/Ubuntu apt repositories (apt-get install duckdb fails), so fetch the pinned static binary from the DuckDB release page and put it on the daemon’s PATH:

# Fetch the pinned DuckDB static CLI (amd64 shown; use the aarch64 asset on arm64).
curl -fsSL -o /tmp/duckdb.zip \
  https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/releases/download/v1.5.4/duckdb_cli-linux-amd64.zip
sudo unzip -o /tmp/duckdb.zip -d /usr/local/bin && rm /tmp/duckdb.zip
duckdb --version   # confirm it is on PATH

The official Docker image already provisions this static binary, so containerized deployments need no extra step. The query surface is hardened to a read-only slicer (--readonly :memory:, extension auto-load off, extension/file-write/network statements refused before spawn) — see the orchestrate tool reference.

Step 3: Switch to the comis user

The daemon runs under its own system user. Switch to it for all Comis commands:

su - comis

Verify the installation:

comis --version

Expected output (version number — yours may differ):

1.0.53

Step 4: Run the setup wizard

The interactive wizard configures your AI provider, generates a gateway token, and (optionally) connects a chat channel.

comis init

The wizard walks you through:

AI Provider — choose Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google and paste your API key
Agent name — give your agent a personality
Channels — connect Telegram, Discord, or others (you can skip and add later)
Gateway security — auto-generates an authentication token
Start daemon — restarts the daemon with your new configuration

When the wizard asks to restart the daemon, choose Restart (recommended). This ensures the daemon picks up your API key and gateway token immediately.

Codex OAuth on headless hosts

If you pick openai-codex as your provider on a VPS, the wizard’s auto-default for the login method is Device code (phone) — the recommended path on headless hosts. This is because VPS images typically lack a default browser, and SSH sessions usually have no clipboard or scrollback that the browser-paste flow relies on. The wizard detects headless hosts via standard environment variables:

SSH_CLIENT or SSH_TTY set, or
DISPLAY unset

When detected, the picker pre-selects Device code (phone). You confirm by pressing Enter; the wizard prints a short code and a verification URL like https://chat.openai.com/oauth/device. Open that URL on your phone or laptop browser, sign into ChatGPT, and type the code. The wizard polls every 5 seconds and continues once the code is accepted.

You can re-run the OAuth login at any time, with or without finishing the wizard. From a TTY:

comis auth login --provider openai-codex --method device-code

This is the same flow the wizard runs and writes to the same OAuth credential store. Use it if you picked Skip for now in the wizard or want to add a second ChatGPT account (multi-account is supported — see OAuth concepts -> Multi-account profiles).

For the wizard’s full 4-option picker walkthrough — including the local-desktop and browser-manual-paste options — see the Quickstart. For the OAuth threat model and storage backends, see OAuth concepts.

Step 5: Verify everything works

comis status

You should see all systems online:

  Daemon
     Status    online
     Uptime    12s

  Gateway
     Status     online
     Address    127.0.0.1:4766

  Agents
  ┌─────────┬───────────┬─────────────────┐
  │ Name    │ Provider  │ Model           │
  ├─────────┼───────────┼─────────────────┤
  │ default │ anthropic │ claude-opus-4-6 │
  └─────────┴───────────┴─────────────────┘

Run the doctor to check for any issues:

comis doctor

Managing the daemon

The comis user has full control over the daemon:

comis daemon status    # Check if running
comis daemon start     # Start the daemon
comis daemon stop      # Stop the daemon
comis daemon logs      # View recent logs
comis daemon logs -f   # Follow logs in real-time

The daemon runs under systemd and starts automatically on boot. If you ever need to restart it as root:

sudo systemctl restart comis

Common tasks

Change the AI model

comis models list --provider anthropic
comis models set default claude-sonnet-4-6

Add a Telegram bot

Create a bot with @BotFather on Telegram
Copy the bot token
Run the setup wizard for channels:

comis configure --section channels

Or edit the config directly:

comis config show channels

See the Telegram channel guide for detailed instructions.

Check memory and sessions

comis memory stats          # Memory database statistics
comis memory search "topic" # Search stored memories
comis sessions list         # List active sessions

Run a security audit

comis security audit        # Check for security issues
comis secrets audit         # Scan for plaintext secrets

Provider-specific notes

Hostinger

Hostinger VPS plans come with Ubuntu and root SSH access by default.

In the Hostinger dashboard, go to VPS and find your server’s IP and password
SSH in: ssh root@your-ip
Run the installer as shown above

Hostinger’s KVM plans (starting at 1 GB RAM) work well with Comis. The installer handles all dependencies automatically.

DigitalOcean

Create a Droplet with Ubuntu 24.04, minimum 1 GB / 1 vCPU.

In the DigitalOcean dashboard, create a new Droplet
Choose Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Select the $6/month plan (1 GB RAM) or higher
Add your SSH key or choose password authentication
SSH in and run the installer

DigitalOcean Droplets work out of the box — no extra configuration needed.

Hetzner

Create a server with Ubuntu 24.04, minimum CX22 (2 GB RAM).

In the Hetzner Cloud console, create a new server
Choose Ubuntu 24.04
Select CX22 or higher
Add your SSH key
SSH in and run the installer

Hetzner offers excellent value for Comis deployments, especially the ARM-based CAX servers.

Vultr / Linode / AWS Lightsail

Any provider that offers Ubuntu 22.04+ with root access works identically:

Create an Ubuntu instance with at least 1 GB RAM
SSH in as root
Run the one-line installer

The installer auto-detects the environment and handles everything.

Troubleshooting

Installer fails with 'npm install' errors

Clear the npm cache and retry:

npm cache clean --force
curl -fsSL https://comis.ai/install.sh | bash

Daemon won't start after comis init

The daemon may need a restart to pick up the new configuration:

comis daemon stop
comis daemon start
comis daemon logs --lines 20

If the logs show startup errors, check your API key is valid:

comis doctor

'comis status' shows offline but daemon is running

This usually means the gateway token is not loaded. Restart the daemon:

comis daemon stop
comis daemon start

If that doesn’t help, re-run the setup wizard:

comis init

Cannot stop/start daemon as comis user

If you see a permissions error, the sudoers rule may be missing. As root:

echo 'comis ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/systemctl start comis, /usr/bin/systemctl stop comis, /usr/bin/systemctl restart comis' > /etc/sudoers.d/comis
chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/comis

Then switch back to the comis user and try again.

Server runs out of memory

Comis uses around 300-500 MB of RAM. If your server has only 1 GB, consider:

Adding swap space: fallocate -l 1G /swapfile && chmod 600 /swapfile && mkswap /swapfile && swapon /swapfile
Upgrading to a 2 GB plan
Using a smaller model (e.g., claude-haiku-4-5 instead of claude-opus-4-6)

Uninstalling

To completely remove Comis from the server:

# As root
curl -fsSL https://comis.ai/install.sh | bash -s -- --uninstall --remove-user

This stops the daemon, removes the systemd service, deletes the comis user, and cleans up all data.

Next steps

Connect Channels

Add Telegram, Discord, Slack, or other messaging platforms.

Configure Your Agent

Customize your agent’s personality, tools, and behavior.

Set Up Security

Enable encrypted secrets, TLS, and approval gates.

Monitor Operations

Logs, metrics, and the web dashboard.

​What you need

​Step 1: Connect to your server

​Step 2: Install Comis

​Browser tool

​Optional: DuckDB for SQL/JSONPath result queries

​Step 3: Switch to the comis user

​Step 4: Run the setup wizard

​Codex OAuth on headless hosts

​Step 5: Verify everything works

​Managing the daemon

​Common tasks

​Change the AI model

​Add a Telegram bot

​Check memory and sessions

​Run a security audit

​Provider-specific notes

​Troubleshooting

​Uninstalling

​Next steps

Connect Channels

Configure Your Agent

Set Up Security

Monitor Operations

What you need

Step 1: Connect to your server

Step 2: Install Comis

Browser tool

Optional: DuckDB for SQL/JSONPath result queries

Step 3: Switch to the comis user

Step 4: Run the setup wizard

Codex OAuth on headless hosts

Step 5: Verify everything works

Managing the daemon

Common tasks

Change the AI model

Add a Telegram bot

Check memory and sessions

Run a security audit

Provider-specific notes

Troubleshooting

Uninstalling

Next steps