Self-hosting admin¶

Once it's running, Kin mostly looks after itself. These are the things worth knowing.

Backups¶

Everything Kin knows lives in one SQLite file — /data/app.db. Back up that file and you've backed up everything.

# A clean, safe backup of a live database:
sqlite3 /path/to/kin-data/app.db ".backup 'kin-backup-$(date +%F).db'"

Or just stop the container and copy /data. Do this before upgrades, and keep a copy somewhere off the machine (a NAS, another disk, or object storage). It's the single most important thing on this page.

Automate it

A daily sqlite3 ... .backup via cron (or a scheduled script on Unraid) is cheap insurance against disk failure.

Upgrades¶

Back up /data (above).
docker pull skyej/kin-crm:latest.
Recreate the container with the same -v ...:/data mapping.

Kin runs migrations automatically on startup — new columns and tables appear without you doing anything. Upgrades are designed to be non-destructive.

Managing people¶

As the instance owner, Settings → Households & members is your control panel:

Add a person (they get their own private Kin).
Group people into households and edit any household's config.
Promote/demote instance owners and household owners.
Toggle the hide config lock per person.

Removing ≠ undoing a link

When two accounts link into one household, their data is merged. Removing someone later gives them their own fresh Kin — it doesn't split the merged data back out. Link thoughtfully.

Troubleshooting¶

"Database is locked" or slow writes¶

Kin runs SQLite in WAL mode with a busy timeout already configured. If you see lock errors, make sure the /data volume is on fast local storage (not a slow network share) and you aren't running two containers against the same file.

Reminders fire at the wrong time¶

Almost always a TZ mismatch. Set TZ to your real timezone and recreate the container.

AI / Immich / voice "not configured"¶

These are all optional and per household. Check Household → Edit household config (not the main Settings page) and use each section's Test connection button.

Can't reach it from outside¶

Kin binds to port 8000 inside the container. Map it to a host port and, for external access, put it behind a reverse proxy — see Installation.

I forgot my password / am locked out¶

There's no in-app reset by design (self-hosted, no email). As the instance owner you can add another admin account and recover from there — another reason to back up /data.