Frequently asked questions

kombify is the platform for your digital home: the photos, files, passwords, media, smart home, websites, mail and personal AI your household relies on, run to the standard a business takes for granted.

A modern digital home lives at home and in the cloud, and you decide the mix. kombify is built to bring it together in one place, with help to get started and the choice of how much you want taken care of. The setup and the data stay yours, wherever they run.

• Explore the products
• About kombify

Link to this answer

No. kombify starts from what you want to do, such as a safe home for your photos or a website for an idea, not from servers and configuration files. kombify Cloud is designed as a familiar place where you see your digital home, get help with the next step and choose how much you want taken care of.

If you enjoy the technical side, everything underneath stays open: StackKits defines a homelab in a form you can read and change, and Techstack sets it up and keeps it running. Go as deep as you like, or never look under the hood.

• See what kombify can do
• For builders, the StackKits docs

Link to this answer

There are two ways in, and both lead to the same digital home.

For a guided start, open kombify Cloud. It is built to ask what you want to set up and show you the next step along the way.

If you like to build, start with StackKits on a machine you already own or a server you rent. One command installs a complete, secured setup, and you can connect it to kombify Cloud whenever you want the extra convenience.

• Open kombify Cloud
• StackKits quickstart

Link to this answer

For kombify Cloud, yes: your account holds your sign-in, the overview of your homelabs and the services you choose to add.

The open-source core does not depend on it. StackKits installs, runs and verifies a homelab on hardware you control without a kombify account or a hosted kombify service, and Techstack can run the same way. Connect to kombify Cloud whenever you want the convenience; your own owner access to the setup stays with you either way.

• Identity in StackKits
• Self-managed, Connected or Managed by kombify

Link to this answer

Pick the kit that matches your machine, then run its installer on that machine. For a homelab on your home network, the Basement Kit installer sets everything up with one command:

curl -sSL https://base.stackkit.cc | sh

1. 1Pick a kitBy the machine you control
2. 2Run the installerOne command on that machine
3. 3Become the ownerOwner access is created locally
4. 4Open your servicesKeep the access details private

After the first install, you change your homelab by editing its definition and applying the plan you reviewed.

• StackKits quickstart
• Getting started on stackkit.cc

Link to this answer

StackKits is the open homelab standard. A kit is a professional blueprint that defines what a homelab is and how it is secured, backed up and kept up to date, so you never build one from scratch again.

Your whole homelab becomes one readable definition. The stackkit command line tool validates it, shows you the plan, applies it to your host and verifies the result. Techstack and kombify Cloud build on it when you want more help.

• StackKits overview
• stackkit.cc
• StackKits on GitHub

Link to this answer

Techstack is the orchestrator for homelabs. It is built to take what you want, turn it into a complete setup and keep it healthy day after day, across your own hardware and the servers you rent.

Techstack builds on StackKits. StackKits owns the definition and its lifecycle; Techstack adds guided configuration, an inventory of everything that runs, coordination across several servers and routine day-to-day operation. Use it directly, without AI, or reach it through kombify Cloud. The rule is that removing Techstack never leaves a StackKit unusable.

• Techstack overview
• Techstack on kombify.io
• Techstack on GitHub

Link to this answer

kombify Cloud is the web app for your digital home: one familiar place to see and manage every homelab you own, in the browser or installed on your device.

It brings together what you run and the conveniences around it: your account and sign-in, an overview of your setups, the Companion, and the connected or managed services it is built to add. Techstack does the work behind it, and StackKits defines what runs. Connecting adds convenience; your setup and your data stay yours.

• All kombify products
• Open kombify Cloud

Link to this answer

Each part does one job, and each layer builds on the one below it.

1. kombify CloudWhere you see and manage everything
2. TechstackSets up, runs and cares for your homelab
3. StackKitsDefines what runs, securely and portably

StackKits is the foundation: an open standard that defines your homelab. Techstack orchestrates what StackKits defines and handles day-to-day operation. kombify Cloud is the place you open to see it all, with the Companion inside. You can start at any layer.

• StackKits overview
• Techstack overview
• All kombify products

Link to this answer

They are three ways to run the same homelab, not tiers of a product. You choose the one that fits each setup.

Your homelab definitionWritten once with StackKits

• Self-managedYou run itOn your hardware or a server you rent
• ConnectedJoined to kombify CloudSign-in and a watch over your services
• Managed by kombifykombify operates itBuilt to be provisioned and run for you

Self-managed keeps everything with you. Connected adds the conveniences of kombify Cloud, while your owner access and credentials stay with your setup. Managed by kombify is built for people who want the operation taken off their hands entirely.

• Self-managed, Connected or Managed by kombify

Link to this answer

Choose the kit by the environment you control, not by the number of services you want to run.

• Basement Kit: for hardware on your home or private network, such as a mini PC or a small server.
• Cloud Kit: for a server you rent, with a domain you control.

StackKits does not buy servers or hold provider credentials for you, so pick a kit once you know which machine and domain you will use. Your services then grow inside that kit. The kit guide compares the kits in detail.

• Choose a StackKit
• Getting started on stackkit.cc

Link to this answer

kombify Simulate is the rehearsal space inside kombify Cloud. It is designed so you hand over a StackKit or a stack you configured in Techstack, and Simulate is built to play that setup through on simulated machines before anything touches your real homelab.

The rule is that a rehearsal stays a rehearsal: it holds no credentials and changes nothing on your servers or provider accounts. Simulate is part of kombify Cloud, not a separate product, so it is built to open where you already manage your homelab.

• All kombify products

Link to this answer

They are built as further ways into kombify, each with the same Companion inside.

Paperwork is the mail client for your digital home. It is built to bring mail, tasks and documents together, with the Companion taking care of the paperwork and following open items through.

kombify Sites is the hosted website builder. It is built to let you create a website together with the Companion and publish it. Underneath sits the open kombify Sites Framework, built so developers can embed and host it on their own.

• All kombify products

Link to this answer

The core is. StackKits, Techstack and SpeechKit are open-source projects: you can read the code, run it yourself and build on it. The standards and tools that define and run your digital home stay open.

A kombify Cloud plan adds what the open-source projects do not include on their own, such as servers operated by kombify, managed services and AI features. The rule is that no open-source feature is held back for a plan.

Each project states its licence in its repository.

• kombify on GitHub

Link to this answer

Yes. Your homelab is described in one readable definition, in open and standard files that stay with you. There is no proprietary format to export and nothing to unlock.

If you stop using connected or managed services, your homelab definition and your data stay with you. No lock-in is a design rule of the standard, not a promise that depends on a plan.

• The open specification
• StackKits overview

Link to this answer

The open-source projects live on GitHub in the kombifyio organization. StackKits, Techstack and SpeechKit each have their own repository with the source code, releases and release notes.

Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue in the repository of the project it concerns, with the release you use and the steps that lead to the problem. For anything security related, do not open a public issue; report it privately instead.

• StackKits on GitHub
• Techstack on GitHub
• SpeechKit on GitHub

Link to this answer

Yes, and we would love to build it with you. A contribution starts as an issue or a discussion in the project's repository: describe the change you have in mind and link your branch if you already have one.

The contributing guide of each project explains how a change gets in. For StackKits, the public repository is a release mirror, so maintainers port an accepted change and it arrives with the next release, with credit in the release notes.

• Contributing to StackKits
• Contributing to SpeechKit

Link to this answer

Every change follows the same steps, whether you make it yourself or Techstack prepares it. Nothing touches your host before you have seen the plan.

1. 1DescribeChange the definition, not the servers
2. 2Review the planSee exactly what will change
3. 3ApplyOnly after your approval
4. 4Verify and recordCheck the result, keep the evidence

When the plan reports a blocker, StackKits stops instead of guessing. You fix the definition rather than the running system, and generate the plan again.

• Review, apply and verify
• Operate a StackKit

Link to this answer

The Basement Kit includes a backup lifecycle that you control as the owner. You configure the backup repository once, then take snapshots whenever you want, for example before a bigger change.

Restoring is deliberately careful. A snapshot is first restored into an isolated staging area and verified, without touching your live data. Only when you activate the verified restore does StackKits take a safety snapshot, switch the data over and check that your services work.

A backup proves itself in a restore, so practice one with data you can spare before you rely on it.

• Back up and restore a Basement Kit

Link to this answer

StackKits checks every new release before it installs it: the archive, its software bill of materials and its signed build attestation. You can preview an update first and see exactly how the plan and the generated files would change.

When you update, a backup snapshot and a recovery checkpoint come first. Then the new release is generated, applied and verified as one transaction, and if it fails before the new release is applied, StackKits can restore the previous state. There is no switch to skip these safeguards.

• The upgrade command
• Operate a StackKit

Link to this answer

Yes. A modern homelab lives at home and in the cloud, and you decide the mix: private things like your photos can stay on your own hardware, while a website runs on a server you rent.

At home

• PhotosOn hardware you own
• Files
• Passwords

On a server you rent

• WebsiteReachable from anywhere
• Public services

You decide which service lives where.

StackKits is built to describe home and cloud in one definition, and Techstack is built to bring your own hardware and your rented servers together and run them as one homelab.

• Techstack overview
• Choose a StackKit

Link to this answer

At home, your services open on your local network. When you want a service reachable from anywhere, kombify.me gives it a stable HTTPS address under kombify.me.

If the service is already reachable on the internet, kombify.me gives it that name. If it stays on your private network, the Techstack node agent can relay it. A kit keeps installing and running without a kombify.me address, so you add one only where you need it.

• kombify.me overview

Link to this answer

You need a machine you control. For a homelab at home, that can be a mini PC, a small server or a spare computer on your home network. For the cloud, it is a server you rent from a provider of your choice, with a domain you control.

StackKits installs onto that machine; it does not buy or create servers for you. The compatibility reference lists the systems each release supports, and the kit guide helps you pick the kit that matches your machine.

• Compatibility reference
• Choose a StackKit

Link to this answer

You pay for the kombify platform and, depending on the plan, for servers and services that kombify provides for you. Each plan builds on the one before it.

Starter · your own hardware

• You bring the hardwareA home server, a mini PC or a server you rent yourself
• Tools and management platformSet up, manage and keep watch over your homelab in kombify Cloud
• AI featuresThe Companion with a monthly AI budget

Pro · a server included

• Everything in Starter
• A server operated by kombifyNo hardware of your own needed
• Daily backups and a custom domain
• More capable AI modelsWith a larger monthly AI budget

All-You-Need · the complete package

• Everything in Pro
• A high-performance server as wellWith a choice of provider
• Managed servicesIndividual services operated by kombify, each in its own isolated container
• The most capable AI modelsWith the largest monthly AI budget
• The most backup space

The pricing page lists the exact allowances of each plan.

kombify is built to run the included servers and services for you, so the higher the plan, the less you operate yourself. Every plan also includes kombify Sites and Paperwork Plus. Whichever plan you choose, your setup and your data stay yours.

• Plans and pricing
• Billing in kombify Cloud

Link to this answer

No. StackKits and Techstack are open source.

A plan is built for when you want more taken care of: connecting your homelabs to kombify Cloud, having kombify operate a setup for you, getting support or using AI services. You can start without a plan and choose one later.

• Self-managed, Connected or Managed by kombify

Link to this answer

Your plan includes a monthly AI budget for the models kombify provides. It is shared across the kombify products you use, so the Companion in kombify Cloud and your work in Companion Studio draw on the same budget. In an organization, the members share the organization's budget.

The budget renews every calendar month. When you connect your own provider key, that usage is billed by your provider and does not count against the budget.

• Billing in kombify Cloud

Link to this answer

Yes. Open Billing in kombify Cloud. Change your plan compares the plans side by side. Manage subscription opens the billing portal, where you update your payment details, find your invoices and cancel.

A cancelled plan stays active until the end of the period you have paid for, and the billing page shows the date it ends. What runs on your own hardware is not affected. If something about your subscription looks wrong, contact support.

• Billing in kombify Cloud
• Contact support

Link to this answer

The kombify AI Platform is the AI side of kombify, for people who come for the assistant itself, with or without a homelab. It powers the Companion: knowledge, memory, specialist agents and the tools they use.

You work with it in Companion Studio in the browser, and kombify Workbench is built to bring it to the desktop. It is built for autonomous work: agents plan, use tools, check their results and carry tasks forward. Your knowledge and conversations stay yours, and you choose the models it works with.

• All kombify products

Link to this answer

The Companion is your point of contact across kombify. Whatever product you use, the Companion is who you talk to, by text or by voice, and Kubi, the little cube, opens it on the web.

It is built to know you and your IT: you set the goal, and it plans, uses your connected systems and coordinates specialist agents for personal tasks, paperwork and your homelab. On your phone, the kombify Companion app is built to carry it and let you pick the Experience you came for.

The Companion is optional. The rule is that everything it does for your homelab runs through controls you can also use yourself.

• All kombify products

Link to this answer

No. StackKits and Techstack are a complete way to define, set up and run your homelab yourself, with no AI involved. Every product control works directly.

When you want help, the Companion is built to be there: ask a question, let it explain a change or hand over a task. You decide how much you delegate, and what you build never depends on it.

• StackKits overview
• Techstack overview

Link to this answer

You can use the models kombify provides as part of your plan, or connect your own key from an AI provider you already use. The platform works with the supported models you choose.

Usage on your own key is billed by your provider and does not count against the AI budget of your kombify plan. The models kombify provides draw on that budget.

• Billing in kombify Cloud

Link to this answer

You stay in charge of what the Companion may do. It is built to work through the same product lifecycle you use yourself, and it never receives more authority than you have.

The rule is that a change to your homelab is planned before it runs and recorded after it runs, whoever starts it. You choose which work you hand over, and each change leaves a record you can follow.

• Review, apply and verify
• Identity and security behavior

Link to this answer

Yes. StackKits ships an MCP connector named stackkit, so an MCP client such as a coding agent works with your homelab through the same lifecycle as the command line. Documentation and diagnostic tools are available by default; tools that change anything need an explicit write mode and your approval as the owner.

SpeechKit includes speechkit-mcp and a command line tool, so an agent can inspect the framework, scaffold starters and operate a SpeechKit server.

• StackKits MCP connector
• Build with SpeechKit

Link to this answer

SpeechKit is the voice of your digital home: an open-source voice framework and runtime for dictation, assistance and live voice conversations. It is also the voice of the Companion.

It works in clear modes. Dictation turns speech into text. Assist turns speech or text into one result, which can be read aloud. Voice Agent holds a live spoken conversation. A separate meeting recorder captures a call and writes it up afterwards.

You decide where speech is processed and what is kept, and developers can embed the same voice kernel in their own apps.

• SpeechKit overview
• speechkit.cc
• SpeechKit on GitHub

Link to this answer

Where you decide. The speech provider you choose sets the path: a local model keeps processing on your device, your own SpeechKit server keeps it on a machine you operate, and an external provider receives audio or text under its own terms.

Two settings make the boundary explicit. Network scope limits what SpeechKit may contact, from all networks to your local network or this device alone, and it applies to providers, downloads, updates and telemetry. Retention scope decides what is kept: your content, or zero retention, which removes the raw material when a session ends and keeps only the result.

• Modes and data paths

Link to this answer

SpeechKit comes as desktop clients, a self-hosted server, Android modules with a reference app, browser packages and a Go framework you can embed.

The desktop clients bring SpeechKit's modes to your computer, and the overview shows which modes each system supports. The server makes dictation, assist and voice conversations available to other devices on your network, and the framework puts the voice kernel directly into your own application.

• Choose a SpeechKit target
• Build with SpeechKit

Link to this answer

No. SpeechKit is open source and has no subscription, plan or paid tier of its own. You can run it, embed it and build on it under its licence.

The Companion uses SpeechKit natively. Where kombify offers hosted voice as part of a kombify plan, the plan covers the hosted voice capacity it uses, not SpeechKit itself.

• SpeechKit on GitHub
• SpeechKit overview

Link to this answer

Yes. The SpeechKit framework is a Go module with the voice kernel, so your application owns its process, configuration and provider credentials. You import only what you need, such as dictation, wake word, text to speech or meeting recording.

If you prefer a service, the self-hosted server offers dictation, assist and voice agent under one address, and there are Android modules and browser packages for your own interfaces. Runnable examples and a short SDK guide help you start.

• Build with SpeechKit
• Runnable examples

Link to this answer

Where you put it. Your digital home is owned by you: you own the setup and the data, wherever they run.

At home

• Photos and filesOn hardware you own
• Passwords

On a server you rent

• Website
• Public services

In kombify Cloud

• Your accountSign-in and settings
• Connected servicesOnly what you choose

Services you run at home keep their data on your hardware. Connecting a homelab to kombify Cloud is built to add sign-in and a watch over your services without moving your data anywhere you did not choose. The privacy policy explains what kombify Cloud stores and why.

• Privacy policy

Link to this answer

StackKits builds business standards into every kit, so a secure setup is the starting point rather than a checklist:

• No service is exposed without an explicit access policy.
• You sign in as the owner with a passkey first.
• There are no default passwords.
• Secrets never end up in generated files.
• Every change shows its plan before it runs.

Your owner identity is created on your own machine and stays there. A hosted kombify sign-in, if you connect one, never outranks you as the local owner.

• Identity in StackKits

Link to this answer

Hosted kombify products share one sign-in at login.kombify.io, so one identity works across kombify Cloud and the other products you use.

Your homelab has its own owner identity: StackKits sets up a passkey-first sign-in on your hardware that stays under your control. A connection to kombify is a convenience on top and never replaces it.

Access is denied whenever identity information is missing or unclear, tokens are short-lived and scoped to one purpose, and protected services never become public because a sign-in service is unavailable.

• Identity in StackKits

Link to this answer

Open Settings in kombify Cloud, go to Account and choose Request deletion. This opens an email to kombify support with the request prepared, and support deletes the account for you, so nothing is lost by accident.

Deleting your account removes your Stack Identity, keys, domains and preferences. What runs on your own hardware stays yours and is not deleted.

• Settings in kombify Cloud
• Privacy policy

Link to this answer

Start with the documentation at docs.kombify.io. It covers installation, daily operation and recovery for StackKits, Techstack and SpeechKit.

When you are signed in to kombify Cloud, the support page is built to help with your connected setup, and nothing is changed without your approval. For everything else, write to info@kombify.io.

For a bug in an open-source project, an issue in its GitHub repository reaches the people who build it.

• kombify documentation
• Support

Link to this answer

Please report it privately, never in a public issue.

For StackKits, Techstack and SpeechKit, use private vulnerability reporting in the Security tab of the project's GitHub repository. For kombify Cloud and the other hosted services, email info@kombify.io.

Include what is affected, the release or page, the impact and the steps to reproduce it. We acknowledge valid reports privately and coordinate a fix before anything is disclosed.

• Report a StackKits vulnerability
• Techstack security
• SpeechKit security

Link to this answer