Permissions
Every sender maps to one role:
- admin — full access: runs admin commands (
/acl,/model, …), receives monitor DMs. - user — chats with gaia normally; no admin commands.
- guest — gated: messages are silently dropped (never reach the model or memory) until an admin
approves them. The local terminal (
cli) is always admin and isn’t configurable.
Who becomes admin (onboarding)
Section titled “Who becomes admin (onboarding)”You never have to look up your own id. On a fresh install with no admin yet, the first person to
DM gaia becomes admin automatically — on WhatsApp or Telegram. It’s DM-only: a message in a
group never grants admin (so gaia being added to a group can’t let a stranger take over). Once an
admin exists, new senders are guest and wait for approval.
WhatsApp note: scanning the QR at gaia connect whatsapp links gaia’s own WhatsApp account
(the bot you chat with and add to groups) — not yours. You become admin by messaging gaia from
your phone after it’s running.
At gaia connect whatsapp you can also pre-allow other numbers as users so they skip the guest
gate.
Managing access
Section titled “Managing access”- Approve / promote / list from chat or CLI:
gaia user,gaia acl(see Reference → CLI). - Declare an admin manually:
gaia setup admin --id whatsapp:<num>@s.whatsapp.net(ortelegram:<id>).