Sim

How to use it

The summary names the npx sim-setup wizard but not what it actually does or the operational surface around it. The wizard is non-cloning: it creates a small sim/ directory, provisions the database, generates secrets, writes .env, connects a Chat API key, and starts the published Sim images with Docker Compose. Requirements are Node.js 20+ and Docker. On completion the app is at http://localhost:3000.

There are two distinct entry points. npx sim-setup runs the published-image Docker Compose path. To get source-only local development and Kubernetes/Helm modes, you must clone the repo and run bun run sim-setup instead — those modes are not reachable from the npx path.

Capabilities are modular and added after initial setup without rerunning the wizard:

npx sim-setup add email
npx sim-setup add storage
npx sim-setup add sandbox
npx sim-setup add jobs
npx sim-setup add cache
npx sim-setup add knowledge
npx sim-setup add chat
npx sim-setup add llm
npx sim-setup add integration slack

Day-to-day management runs from the deployment directory (use --dir <path> to target another location):

npx sim-setup start | stop | restart
npx sim-setup update    # pull and apply Compose images
npx sim-setup status     # what's installed and healthy
npx sim-setup logs
npx sim-setup doctor     # diagnose configuration problems
npx sim-setup down       # remove containers (data kept)
npx sim-setup reset      # archive .env and wipe managed data

Note the two inspection commands are not the same: config reports which capabilities and OAuth integrations are configured/missing/invalid (without printing credential values), while status reports whether running services are healthy.

Limits

The summary presents this as fully self-hostable, but Chat is a Sim-managed service, not self-contained. The wizard connects a Chat API key by signing you into an external account, and keys are viewed/created/revoked at sim.ai/selfhost/settings/chat-keys — a cloud dependency inside an otherwise local deployment worth knowing before you commit to air-gapped use.

The desktop app is macOS-only (12+, Apple Silicon and Intel); it can point at a self-hosted deployment. The runtime stack beyond what the summary lists includes Better Auth (auth), Trigger.dev (background jobs), E2B (remote code execution), and isolated-vm (isolated execution) — external services/components you inherit if you adopt the full feature set.