Getting Started with Meldry #

This is the complete first-time walkthrough: from "I've never heard of Matrix" to "I'm chatting with my team on my own server". If any concept below feels unfamiliar, read The Matrix Protocol first — it defines all the words we use here and includes the full client comparison.

Step 1 — Create your server on Meldry #

Visit meldry.com and click Get started.

Option A — Handle and password #

Fill in:

  • Handle — 3-30 characters, lowercase letters, numbers, underscores and hyphens. This identifies your Meldry account. Example: acme-team.
  • Password — 8-128 characters. Breached passwords are checked against a public blocklist and rejected.
  • Email (optional but strongly recommended) — used for password recovery, billing receipts and abuse notifications.
  • Coupon code (optional) — if you have one, paste it here. See Billing for details.

Click Create server. Behind the scenes Meldry will:

  1. Create your account in our database.
  2. Provision a dedicated Postgres schema.
  3. Launch a Matrix homeserver container on the nearest cluster region.
  4. Install default bridges / appservices for your plan.
  5. Configure DNS for <subdomain>.meldry.com and issue a Let's Encrypt TLS certificate.

Provisioning takes under five seconds. When the dashboard refreshes, your server status changes to running.

Option B — Sign up with GitHub, Google or another OAuth provider #

  1. Click Sign in with GitHub (or Google, Feishu, WeChat, etc).
  2. Authorize Meldry on the provider's consent screen.
  3. On first sign-in you'll be asked to either:
    • Create a new Meldry account with the suggested handle from the provider, or
    • Link to an existing account by entering your Meldry handle and password.
  4. Your server is provisioned as in Option A.

See Security → OAuth / OIDC for the full linking flow.

Step 2 — Find your server details #

Once the dashboard turns green you'll see a card with everything you need:

  • Subdomain URL — https://<subdomain>.meldry.com
  • Matrix homeserver — same URL; this is what you paste into any Matrix client
  • Matrix user ID template — @<local>:<subdomain>.meldry.com (your first Matrix user is created for you automatically)
  • Session token — a Meldry dashboard session; stored automatically in your browser.

Your Matrix credentials (not the Meldry dashboard credentials — these are separate) are visible under Server → Matrix users in the dashboard. On first run there's one pre-created user for the workspace; you can change its password from that page.

Step 3 — Install a Matrix client #

Pick one from the Matrix clients sub-page. For this walkthrough we'll use Element because it's the most complete and has every feature:

  • Desktop: https://element.io/download
  • Mobile: Element X (App Store / Play Store)
  • Web (no install): https://app.element.io

Step 4 — Sign in #

  1. Launch the client. You'll land on a welcome screen.
  2. Click Sign in.
  3. When you see the homeserver field, click Edit (Element) or Other (FluffyChat / Cinny). Do not accept the default matrix.org — that would log you into the public server, not yours.
  4. Paste https://<subdomain>.meldry.com into the homeserver field.
  5. Click Continue. The client will verify it can reach your homeserver and show the login form.
  6. Enter your Matrix handle (the localpart, e.g. alice — not the full @alice:server form) and the Matrix password from the dashboard.
  7. Click Sign in.

You're now on your own Matrix server.

Step 5 — First-run setup in the client #

Element (and most clients) will walk you through three quick setup steps the first time:

  1. Set a display name. This is the human-friendly name other people see — e.g., "Alice Chen". You can change it any time.
  2. Upload an avatar. Optional, but makes you look a lot less anonymous in group chats.
  3. Set up Secure Backup. Matrix stores your encryption keys on your device. If you lose the device and never set up backup, you lose access to any encrypted history. Element will offer to generate a recovery key (a long string) and/or a recovery phrase — save at least one of these somewhere safe, like a password manager.

Step 6 — Create your first room #

  1. Click the + next to the "Rooms" section in the left sidebar → New room.
  2. Name it (e.g., general).
  3. Pick Private (encrypted, default) or Public (unencrypted, searchable).
  4. Click Create room.

The new room opens. Type a message in the composer at the bottom and hit Enter. Congratulations — you just sent your first encrypted message through your own Matrix server.

Step 7 — Invite someone #

Inside the room, click the room header → People → Invite.

  • To invite someone on your server: type @their-localpart:your-name.meldry.com.
  • To invite someone on another Matrix server (if federation is enabled on your plan): type their full MXID, e.g. @friend:matrix.org.
  • To invite someone who doesn't have a Matrix account yet: use the Meldry dashboard's invite feature to generate a signup link, then send it to them.

Once they accept, they'll see the room in their own client.

Step 8 — Turn on device verification #

If you sign in from a second device (laptop + phone, say), Matrix will warn about unverified sessions. Verifying stops an attacker who got into your homeserver from silently adding their own device to read your messages.

  1. On the already-signed-in device, go to Settings → Security & Privacy → Sessions.
  2. Find the new session and click Verify.
  3. Compare the emoji sequence (or scan the QR code) between the two devices.

Once verified, all your encrypted room history decrypts on the new device. See Security → Device verification for the full details.

Troubleshooting #

  • The dashboard stays on "pending" for more than a minute. Click Retry or check the notification bell in the top-right. Container creation sometimes lags when a cluster region is busy.
  • Element says "Unable to connect to homeserver". Double-check you entered https:// and that you're past the <subdomain>.meldry.com subdomain (not just meldry.com). Open https://<subdomain>.meldry.com/_matrix/client/versions in a browser — you should see a small JSON blob. If you don't, your workspace may not be running; check the dashboard.
  • "Invalid credentials" even though the password looks right. Remember: your Meldry dashboard password (for meldry.com) is a different credential from your Matrix password (for the Element sign-in). Reset the Matrix one under Server → Matrix users.
  • I lost my recovery key and can't read old encrypted messages. Unfortunately this is a protocol-level limitation — Matrix keys are end-to-end, so even your homeserver operator (Meldry) can't recover them. Going forward, your new device will see new messages normally.

What's next #

  • The Matrix Protocol — deeper explanation of rooms, spaces, federation, E2EE and clients
  • Server Management — start/stop, custom domains, teams, monitoring
  • Bridges — connect Telegram, Slack, Discord and more
  • Security — 2FA, API keys, sessions, audit log, data export
  • Billing — plans, payments, invoices, coupons, refunds