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Member Onboarding Process

This guide covers the complete process for inviting and onboarding new members into the IrregularChat community. The system is built on a vouch-based trust model where every member is personally vouched for by an existing community member.

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

The onboarding flow consists of three main stages:

┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐
│   !invite   │ ──► │  !request   │ ──► │    !gtg     │
│  (Voucher)  │     │  @NewUser   │     │  (Approve)  │
└─────────────┘     └─────────────┘     └─────────────┘
       │                   │                   │
       ▼                   ▼                   ▼
   Add invitee        New user           SSO account +
   to Entry chat    provides intro      Group invites

The Vouch-Based Trust Model

Section titled “The Vouch-Based Trust Model”

Every member in IrregularChat has been personally vouched for by an existing member. This creates accountability chains:

  • Vouchers are accountable for who they bring in
  • New members know who connected them to the community
  • Group welcomes show the voucher relationship

Step 1: Inviting Someone (!invite)

Section titled “Step 1: Inviting Someone (!invite)”

When an existing member wants to invite someone new:

!invite

What happens:

  1. The voucher is added to Entry/INDOC chat (if not already there)
  2. A DM is sent with step-by-step instructions
  3. The Entry chat shows a welcome prompting them to add their invitee

Instructions sent to voucher:

  1. Share the community wiki first: https://irregularpedia.org (Rules of Engagement)
  2. Add invitee via Entry group settings
  3. Use !request @TheirName to start verification

Step 2: Starting Verification (!request)

Section titled “Step 2: Starting Verification (!request)”

As the Voucher (Default)

Section titled “As the Voucher (Default)”

When the voucher initiates verification, they become the designated voucher:

!request @NewUser

What happens:

  1. Verification request created with voucher info stored
  2. Welcome message sent to the new user with intro template
  3. When new user provides intro, they’re auto-approved (voucher already known)

Without Being the Voucher (-nv flag)

Section titled “Without Being the Voucher (-nv flag)”

Admins can initiate verification without vouching:

!request -nv @NewUser
!request --no-vouch @NewUser

Use case: Admin helping with onboarding but not personally vouching. The new user will need to @mention their actual voucher in their intro.

New User Intro Template

Section titled “New User Intro Template”

New users receive this template to fill out:

1. NAME
2. YOUR_ORGANIZATION
3. EMAIL_OR_EMAIL_ALIAS
4. YOUR_INTERESTS
5. LinkedIn profile link (optional)

Step 3: Verification Flow

Section titled “Step 3: Verification Flow”

When Voucher is Pre-set (Fast Track)

Section titled “When Voucher is Pre-set (Fast Track)”

If the voucher used !request @NewUser:

  1. New user provides intro (substantive text)
  2. Auto-approved - no confirmation needed
  3. SSO account created automatically
  4. User added to recommended groups
  5. Group welcomes show voucher name

When Voucher is NOT Pre-set

Section titled “When Voucher is NOT Pre-set”

If admin used !request -nv @NewUser or user typed !request alone:

  1. New user provides intro
  2. Bot prompts: “Please @mention who invited you”
  3. User edits to include @VoucherName
  4. Voucher receives confirmation request
  5. Voucher replies “yes” to approve
  6. SSO account created, groups assigned

Step 4: Good To Go (!gtg)

Section titled “Step 4: Good To Go (!gtg)”

Manual approval by admins (bypasses vouch confirmation):

!gtg @NewUser

What happens:

  1. SSO account created (if configured)
  2. User added to recommended groups based on intro keywords
  3. Welcome DM sent with login credentials
  4. User removed from Entry chat
  5. Group engagement messages posted (with voucher info if known)

Group Recommendations

Section titled “Group Recommendations”

Groups are recommended based on the user’s intro:

Core Groups (Everyone Gets)

Section titled “Core Groups (Everyone Gets)”
  • Tech - Main tech discussion
  • Announcements - Community announcements

Interest-Based Groups

Section titled “Interest-Based Groups”

Matched by keywords in intro:

  • “AI”, “machine learning” → AI/ML groups
  • “cyber”, “security” → Security groups
  • “drone”, “sUAS” → Unmanned systems groups
  • etc.

Special: Off Topic

Section titled “Special: Off Topic”

Only added if user mentions “meme” or “memes” in their intro.

When added to Off Topic, user receives a humorous “meme initiation” challenge:

🎭 You’ve unlocked the sacred meme chamber!

⚠️ INITIATION REQUIRED: Post your finest meme within 24 hours or face the ancient curse of eternal lurking.

Entry/INDOC Welcome Messages

Section titled “Entry/INDOC Welcome Messages”

When someone is added to Entry/INDOC, the bot automatically welcomes them:

When Voucher is Known

Section titled “When Voucher is Known”
👋 Welcome [Name]!


Vouched for by [VoucherName].


[VoucherName], use !request @[Name] to start verification.


📖 https://irregularpedia.org has community guidelines.

When Voucher is Unknown

Section titled “When Voucher is Unknown”
👋 Welcome [Name]!


Everyone here has been personally vouched for by an existing member.


Whoever invited you: use !request @[Name] to start verification.


📖 https://irregularpedia.org has community guidelines.

Career Profile Auto-Creation

Section titled “Career Profile Auto-Creation”

During onboarding, the bot automatically creates a draft career profile on jobs.irregulars.io from the member’s introduction text.

How It Works

Section titled “How It Works”
  1. After GTG completes, the bot fires off a background task (never delays onboarding)
  2. AI extracts structured career data from the intro text:
    • Name, title, organization — from the intro format
    • Military status & branch — inferred from keywords (USASOC → Army, active duty)
    • Clearance level — inferred from organization (NSA → TS/SCI)
    • Skills — extracted from interests and MOS codes
    • LinkedIn URL — from line 5 of the intro template
  3. A draft profile is created on the career board (visible, availability: open to offers)
  4. The member receives a career welcome DM:
📋 Career Profile Created!
Based on your intro, we created a draft career profile:
  Name: John Smith
  Status: Active Duty | Army
  Clearance: TS/SCI
  Skills: Cyber, SIGINT, AI
  LinkedIn: linked ✓


👉 Review & complete: https://jobs.irregulars.io/my/profile/edit
Once confirmed, we'll match you with relevant job listings.
We found 5 open positions that may match your background.

AI Fallback Chain

Section titled “AI Fallback Chain”

The extraction uses three providers in order:

  1. Local AI (self-hosted Open WebUI) — preferred, data stays on community infrastructure
  2. OpenAI (gpt-4o-mini) — fallback if local AI is unavailable
  3. Regex parser — last resort, extracts name/skills/LinkedIn from numbered intro format

Privacy

Section titled “Privacy”

Profile data is covered by the Privacy Policy. Members can edit, hide, or delete their profile at any time.

Backfilling Existing Members

Section titled “Backfilling Existing Members”

Admins can create profiles for members who joined before this feature:

!backfill-profiles --dry-run    # Preview what would be created
!backfill-profiles              # Create the profiles

See Admin Commands — !backfill-profiles for details.

Group Welcome Messages

Section titled “Group Welcome Messages”

When a verified user is added to a group, the welcome includes:

👋 Welcome [Name]!


Vouched for by [VoucherName].
Interests: [extracted from intro]


Say hi and share what brings you here!

Command Reference

Section titled “Command Reference”
CommandDescription
!inviteStart invite process (adds you to Entry)
!request @userInitiate verification (you = voucher)
!request -nv @userInitiate without vouching
!gtg @userManually approve user
!pendingView pending verifications
!addto <group> @userManually add user to group

Flow Diagrams

Section titled “Flow Diagrams”

Standard Flow (Voucher-Initiated)

Section titled “Standard Flow (Voucher-Initiated)”
Voucher                    Bot                      New User
   │                        │                          │
   │ !invite                │                          │
   ├───────────────────────►│                          │
   │                        │ [Added to Entry]         │
   │◄───────────────────────┤                          │
   │                        │                          │
   │ [Adds invitee to       │                          │
   │  Entry group]          │                          │
   │                        │                          │
   │ !request @NewUser      │                          │
   ├───────────────────────►│                          │
   │                        │ [Verification created    │
   │                        │  w/ voucher stored]      │
   │                        │                          │
   │                        │ [Welcome + template]     │
   │                        ├─────────────────────────►│
   │                        │                          │
   │                        │        [Intro text]      │
   │                        │◄─────────────────────────┤
   │                        │                          │
   │                        │ [AUTO-APPROVED]          │
   │                        │ [SSO + Groups]           │
   │                        ├─────────────────────────►│
   │                        │                          │

Admin-Initiated Flow (No Vouch)

Section titled “Admin-Initiated Flow (No Vouch)”
Admin                      Bot                      New User
   │                        │                          │
   │ !request -nv @NewUser  │                          │
   ├───────────────────────►│                          │
   │                        │ [Verification created    │
   │                        │  NO voucher stored]      │
   │                        │                          │
   │                        │ [Welcome + template]     │
   │                        ├─────────────────────────►│
   │                        │                          │
   │                        │    [Intro w/ @Voucher]   │
   │                        │◄─────────────────────────┤
   │                        │                          │
Voucher ◄──────────────────│ "Do you vouch?"          │
   │                        │                          │
   │ "yes"                  │                          │
   ├───────────────────────►│                          │
   │                        │ [SSO + Groups]           │
   │                        ├─────────────────────────►│

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

”No voucher assigned” message

Section titled “”No voucher assigned” message”

The verification was started with -nv flag or via !request without @mention. New user needs to @mention their voucher in their intro.

User not getting added to groups

Section titled “User not getting added to groups”
  • Check that bot is admin in target groups
  • Verify user’s intro contains relevant keywords
  • Use !addto <group> @user for manual addition

SSO account not created

Section titled “SSO account not created”
  • Verify Authentik integration is configured
  • Check bot logs for SSO errors
  • User may already have an account

Auto-approval not working

Section titled “Auto-approval not working”
  • Voucher must have used !request @user format
  • User’s intro must be substantive (50+ chars or 3+ lines)
  • Check verification request status with !pending
Section titled “Related Pages”