First run

The first boot creates everything the wall needs: a household, two members, and an empty calendar. This page takes you from that empty state to a wall display that stays awake and shows your events.

What the first boot creates

When the database is empty, Telescreen seeds:

Thing	Default
Household name	Our Home, or TELESCREEN_HOUSEHOLD_NAME if set
Household time zone	TELESCREEN_TIMEZONE, else the server's system zone
Members	Mara (terracotta) and Theo (sage)
Week view	Next 7 days (rolling, today in the first column)
Week starts on	Sunday
Modules	Weather, Travel, Meals, Music all off

Nothing is downloaded and no account is created. All of this is editable later.

Name the household

Open Settings > Household > General and change:

• Household name — shown as the title on the calendar.
• Time zone — every date and time is displayed in this zone, whatever the server or browser uses. Set it before you create events.
• Week view — Next 7 days keeps today in the first column, which is what a wall display wants. Calendar week shows a fixed Sunday-to-Saturday week.
• Week starts on — Sunday or Monday. This affects the fixed week and the month view.

The other rows on that page (idle return, sync interval, keep awake, seasonal decorations) have sensible defaults; leave them for now.

Name the people

Settings > Household > Members lists Mara and Theo. Rename them, pick a color per person, and reorder them with the arrows. The color drives the member chips in the calendar header and the ring around that person's events.

Add a third person with the "Add a member" field if your household needs one. Deleting a member detaches the calendars and chores that referenced them; nothing is deleted at the provider.

Connect a calendar

The calendar is empty until you connect an account. Pick one to start:

Provider	What you need	Guide
iCloud	Apple ID and an app-specific password	iCloud
Google	An OAuth client of your own	Google

Do this under Settings > Calendar > Accounts. A first sync starts in the background; the calendars then appear under Settings > Calendar > Calendars, where you choose which ones are visible and which one new events are written to. Events appear within a sync interval (5 minutes by default), or immediately if you tap the sync button in the rail.

Turn on the modules you want

Modules are off by default so the wall stays quiet until you ask for more. Enable each under its own tile:

• Settings > Modules > Weather — set a place (or use the device location), units, and optionally the UV index.
• Settings > Modules > Travel — needs GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY in the environment, plus a home address in Settings.
• Settings > Modules > Meals — needs PANTRYPAL_URL; use "Test connection" to confirm.
• Settings > Modules > Music — needs a Spotify app; connect from the tile.

Weather, Travel, Meals, and Music appear in the right column of wide layouts. The Meals and Music tabs appear only when their modules are on.

Install it on the tablet

1. Open the tailnet HTTPS URL in Safari.
2. Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
3. Launch Telescreen from the home screen icon, in landscape.
4. Turn on Settings > Household > General > Keep screen awake.

The wake lock only works over HTTPS (over plain http:// Safari refuses it, and the row says so). If the setting is on but the screen still sleeps, check that you opened the https:// tailnet address, not http://127.0.0.1:8788.

An iPad left on all day may benefit from Guided Access or a charging stand; both are outside Telescreen.

On a phone the app opens with bottom tabs (Calendar, Chores, and Meals/Music when enabled) and Settings as a tab. Installing it there works the same way and is optional.

Next steps

• [ ] Rename the household and set the time zone.
• [ ] Rename members and pick colors.
• [ ] Connect at least one calendar account and pick visible calendars.
• [ ] Set the default write calendar per member, so new events land where you expect.
• [ ] Turn on Weather, Travel, Meals, or Music as needed.
• [ ] Install the PWA on the tablet and enable keep-awake.
• [ ] Back up the data directory and store TELESCREEN_SECRET_KEY safely. See Backups and restore.
• [ ] Read Access and security if anyone outside the household can reach the instance.

Once the calendar shows events, the rest is day-to-day use: see Calendar, Events, and Chores.