◈ PoliC@homeSELF-HOST GUIDE
YOUR OWN COMMONS

Clone the idea. Keep your constitution.

Download the source snapshot ZIP, unzip it, and run your own coordinator. The snapshot contains application code, docs and tests; it has no Git commit history. No administrative secrets or runtime databases are included. See the complete consent, Catbox and removal guide for all modes, and BSD 3-Clause and documentation licensing details.

One-command Docker quickstart (Windows 11 / WSL2 or Linux)
unzip PoliCatHome-source.zip
cd PoliCatHome-source
bash scripts/start-local.sh
# open http://localhost:8765
cat runtime/admin-token.txt
# paste this private token into Commons

This binds the service to localhost only, and stores the coordinator database in a Docker volume. Stop with bash scripts/stop-local.sh (keeps data). Permanently remove this local Commons and its DB via bash scripts/remove-local.sh --purge-data after revoking any native Catboxes. Docker Desktop must be running with WSL integration enabled where applicable.

Alternative local setup (Linux / WSL, Python 3.10+)
unzip PoliCatHome-source.zip
cd PoliCatHome-source
python3 -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install -e '.[test]'
pytest -q
export POLYC_ADMIN_TOKEN="$(python -c 'import secrets; print(secrets.token_urlsafe(36))')"
polyc serve --db runtime/browser.sqlite --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8765

Visit http://127.0.0.1:8765. Browser Catnap is separate from this coordinator; merely hosting does not donate your CPU or GPU. Local Commons supports invitation-free browser and native Catbox self-enrollment with explicit consent; public deployment requires additional security work.

Before public hosting: place behind a hardened HTTPS reverse proxy or VPN; establish authentication, rate limits, identity management, log retention, security review, backups and secret handling. Do not expose the development process publicly. Browser Catnap only handles approved built-in SHA-256 chain tasks; it does not provide arbitrary Docker jobs or safe native GPU access.

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