# Overview

Genie is designed to work out of the box, but every environment is different. The settings panel gives you the ability to customize your experience, manage your infrastructure, and control how your system behaves.

All settings are accessible from your dashboard and apply immediately.

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## What You Can Configure

Genie organizes settings into clear sections, each focused on a specific area of your environment.

### Your AI

Customize how your AI assistant behaves. Set your name, provide context about your work, and define rules that shape how the AI responds to you.

This is where you make the AI yours.

### Channels

Connect external platforms like Telegram and Discord to your Genie environment. This allows you to interact with your system from anywhere, not just the browser.

### Server

View and manage your server's resources, performance, and status. Restart, rebuild, or adjust your setup as needed.

### Backups

Protect your work with automatic or manual backups. Restore to any previous state if something goes wrong.

### Secrets

Store sensitive data like API keys, tokens, and passwords securely. Secrets are encrypted and injected into your environment as variables.

### Account & Security

Manage your login methods, enable two-factor authentication, add passkeys, and review active sessions.

### Advanced

Access power-user features including SSH access, API tokens, webhooks, custom domains, cron jobs, and environment variables.

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## How Settings Work

Settings in Genie are:

* Applied immediately after saving
* Synced across all your devices
* Stored securely and encrypted where applicable
* Scoped to your account (other users cannot access your settings)

There is no need to restart your environment after changing settings unless specifically noted.

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## Where to Start

If you are new to Genie, focus on these first:

1. **Set up your AI** — Add your name and a short bio so the AI understands your context
2. **Connect a channel** — Link Telegram or Discord for mobile access
3. **Enable backups** — Protect your work from day one
4. **Store your secrets** — Add any API keys you need for your projects

Everything else can be configured as your usage evolves.