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Faster Chat

Quick Start

Quick Start Guide

Section titled “Quick Start Guide”

This guide walks you through setting up Faster Chat and starting your first conversation.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Section titled “Step 1: Create Your Account”

After installing Faster Chat, navigate to the login page:

Development: http://localhost:3000/login Docker: http://localhost:8787/login Production: https://yourdomain.com/login

  1. Click Register to create a new account
  2. Enter your username and password
  3. Submit the registration form

Step 2: Configure AI Providers

Section titled “Step 2: Configure AI Providers”

Access the Admin Panel to add your AI providers:

  1. Navigate to /admin (click your avatar → Admin Panel)
  2. Go to the Providers tab
  3. Click Add Provider

Option A: Cloud Provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)

Section titled “Option A: Cloud Provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)”

Configure a cloud-based AI service:

OpenAI Example:

Provider Name: OpenAI
Base URL: https://api.openai.com/v1
API Key: sk-proj-... (your OpenAI API key)

Anthropic Example:

Provider Name: Anthropic
Base URL: https://api.anthropic.com/v1
API Key: sk-ant-... (your Anthropic API key)

Other Cloud Providers:

  • Groq: https://api.groq.com/openai/v1 + API key
  • Mistral: https://api.mistral.ai/v1 + API key
  • OpenRouter (100+ models): https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 + API key

Option B: Local Provider (Ollama, LM Studio)

Section titled “Option B: Local Provider (Ollama, LM Studio)”

Configure a local AI service running on your machine:

Ollama Example:

Provider Name: Ollama
Base URL: http://localhost:11434
API Key: (leave empty)

LM Studio Example:

Provider Name: LM Studio
Base URL: http://localhost:1234/v1
API Key: (leave empty)

Step 3: Enable Models

Section titled “Step 3: Enable Models”

After adding a provider, discover and enable available models:

  1. Stay in the Providers tab of the Admin Panel
  2. Find your newly added provider
  3. Click Refresh Models to auto-discover available models
  4. Toggle models ON to make them available in the chat interface
  5. Optionally set a default model for new conversations

Step 4: Start Chatting

Section titled “Step 4: Start Chatting”

Now you’re ready to chat!

  1. Navigate to / (home page)
  2. Click New Chat or use an existing conversation
  3. Select a model from the dropdown
  4. Type your message and press Enter or click Send
  5. Watch as the AI streams its response in real-time

Example Prompts

Section titled “Example Prompts”

Try these to get started:

Explain how Faster Chat's local-first storage works
Write a Python script that analyzes log files
Help me debug this JavaScript error: [paste your error]

Understanding the Interface

Section titled “Understanding the Interface”

Main Chat View:

  • Model Selector - Switch between enabled models
  • Message Input - Type your prompts (supports Shift+Enter for newlines)
  • Conversation List - Access your chat history (stored locally in IndexedDB)

Admin Panel (/admin):

  • Providers Tab - Manage AI connections and API keys
  • Models Tab - Enable/disable models from all providers
  • Users Tab - Manage user accounts and permissions (admins only)

Working Offline

Section titled “Working Offline”

Faster Chat is built for offline-first operation:

  1. Configure Ollama or LM Studio as a provider
  2. Pull models locally (e.g., ollama pull llama3.2)
  3. Disconnect from the internet
  4. Continue chatting - everything runs on your machine

Your conversations are stored locally in IndexedDB and never sent to the server unless you upload files.

File Attachments

Section titled “File Attachments”

Upload files to provide context to the AI:

  1. Click the 📎 attachment icon in the message input
  2. Select a file (images, PDFs, text files)
  3. The file content is sent with your message
  4. Files are stored server-side in server/data/uploads/

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

No models showing up?

  • Ensure you’ve added at least one provider in /admin → Providers
  • Click Refresh Models after adding a provider
  • Check that the provider’s Base URL is correct and accessible

Connection errors with Ollama?

  • Verify Ollama is running: ollama serve
  • Check Ollama is accessible: curl http://localhost:11434
  • If using Docker, use http://host.docker.internal:11434

API key errors?

  • Verify your API key is correct
  • Check for proper formatting (no extra spaces)
  • Ensure the key has sufficient quota/credits

Slow responses?

  • Use a smaller, faster model (e.g., llama3.2:3b instead of llama3.1:70b)
  • Check system resources (RAM/CPU usage)
  • For cloud providers, check your network connection

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”