Quickstart

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Before you start

• A computer running macOS, Windows, or Linux
• A Discord account — create a Discord account if you don’t have one
• A Claude subscription — Pro (20 USD/month) or Max (100 USD/month) at Claude. Pro works fine to start. Not required if self-hosting — see self-hosted models to run with a local model instead

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Open a terminal

1

Install Git and uv

ollim-bot needs two tools: Git (downloads code) and uv (manages Python, the language the bot is written in).

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Install Git

• macOS
• Windows
• Linux

Git is pre-installed on macOS. Verify by pasting this and pressing Enter:

git --version

You should see something like git version 2.39.0. If you see “command not found”, download Git from git-scm.com, run the installer, then run git --version again to confirm.

Download the installer from git-scm.com and run it. Use all the default options.After it finishes, close PowerShell and open it again so it can find Git. Then verify:

git --version

You should see something like git version 2.44.0.windows.1.

sudo apt install git

On Fedora, use sudo dnf install git instead.

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Install uv

• Linux / macOS
• Windows

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

Prefer to inspect the script first? On Linux or macOS, download it, review it, then run it:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh -o /tmp/uv-install.sh
less /tmp/uv-install.sh
sh /tmp/uv-install.sh

You can also install uv via pip install uv or your system package manager.

After uv installs, close your terminal so your PATH updates. The next step is in the browser, so you won’t need it yet.

2

Create a Discord bot

Open the Discord Developer Portal in your browser and click New Application. Give it any name (e.g. “ollim-bot”).

In the left sidebar, click Bot. Then click Reset Token (or Add Bot if you see that instead) and copy the token that appears.

The bot token is shown only once. If you lose it, click Reset Token again to get a new one.

Scroll down to Privileged Gateway Intents and turn on Message Content Intent (this lets the bot read your messages).

3

Install to your Discord account

Click Installation in the left sidebar.Under Installation Contexts, check User Install and uncheck Guild Install. Verify the install link dropdown is set to Discord Provided Link (the default for new apps). Under Default Install Settings, verify that applications.commands is listed in the scopes — Discord adds it by default. If either is missing, set them manually. Then click Save Changes at the bottom.

Copy the Install Link shown on this page and open it in your browser. Click Authorize to install the bot to your Discord account.Finally, go back to Bot in the left sidebar and uncheck Public Bot.

You must set the install link and install the app before unchecking Public Bot. Discord does not allow private apps to have an install link, so doing these out of order causes an error.

4

Download and install ollim-bot

Verify uv is working:

uv --version

You should see a version number like uv 0.6.0. If you see “command not found”, close the terminal, open a new one, and run uv --version again. If it still fails, see troubleshooting.Download the bot’s code:

git clone https://github.com/Ollim-AI/ollim-bot.git

Move into the downloaded folder:

cd ollim-bot

Install the bot:

uv tool install --editable .

This also installs claude-history, a tool that lets the bot search past conversations so it can remember things.Verify the bot installed:

ollim-bot --help

You should see a list of commands starting with ollim-bot -- ADHD-friendly Discord assistant. If you see “command not found”, see troubleshooting.

5

Configure the bot

Create the configuration file:

• Linux / macOS
• Windows

cp .env.example .env

copy .env.example .env

Open the file in a text editor:

• macOS
• Windows
• Linux

open -e .env

This opens the file in TextEdit.

notepad .env

nano .env

Use arrow keys to move around. When done editing, press Ctrl + O then Enter to save, then Ctrl + X to exit.

Find these three lines and fill in the values:

.env

DISCORD_TOKEN=paste-your-bot-token-here
OLLIM_USER_NAME=YourFirstName
OLLIM_BOT_NAME=Ollim

• Replace paste-your-bot-token-here with the token you copied in step 2
• Replace YourFirstName with your name (the bot will call you this)
• Replace Ollim with whatever you want to call the bot

Save the file and close the editor. On Linux or macOS, restrict the file permissions so only you can read it:

chmod 600 .env

These three env vars are all you need for a Claude subscription. On first launch, the bot’s welcome message includes a “Get started — 3 questions” button that walks you through personality and user context interactively. You can also run /setup anytime.

Using a local model instead of Claude? Add ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, ANTHROPIC_MODEL, and ANTHROPIC_SMALL_FAST_MODEL to your .env as well — see the self-hosted models section for values. You can skip the sign-in step in step 6.

6

Start the bot

In the same terminal, start the bot:

ollim-bot

Keep this terminal window open. The bot runs as long as the terminal is open — closing the terminal stops the bot.

If you’re using a Claude subscription, the bot sends you a Discord DM with a sign-in link on first launch. Open the link and log in with your Anthropic account.

If you configured a local model provider or set ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN in your .env, no sign-in link appears — the bot connects directly to your inference server.

Once ready, the bot sends you a startup DM in Discord.

Bot not starting? See common startup issues.

7

Run first-time setup

The bot’s startup DM includes a “Get started — 3 questions” button. Click it to walk through guided setup — the bot asks your name, its personality, and context about your work and schedule.At the end, setup offers to create a morning check-in routine that messages you every weekday at 9 AM with your schedule and priorities. If you accept, the bot writes the routine file immediately — no extra steps needed.Setup also checks your Google integration status and points you to the next step if it’s not connected yet. See Google integration for the full walkthrough.

You can skip the button and just start talking — setup is optional. You can always run it later with /setup.

Once setup is done (or skipped), try a message to see the bot in action:

Remind me to take out the trash tomorrow at 10am, and follow up if I haven’t done it by noon

The bot creates a reminder and a follow-up chain — at noon it checks whether you’ve confirmed, and only pings you if the task is still outstanding.

After setting up Google integration, try: “What’s on my calendar today?”

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CLI commands

ollim-bot routine list     # Show all routines
ollim-bot reminder add --delay 30 -m "take a break"
ollim-bot tasks list       # List Google Tasks
ollim-bot cal today        # Show today's calendar events
ollim-bot help             # Show all available commands

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Troubleshooting

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Next steps