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

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

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)

When an existing member wants to invite someone new:

!invite

What happens:

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

Instructions sent to voucher:

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

Step 2: Starting Verification (!request)

As the Voucher (Default)

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

!request @NewUser

What happens:

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

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

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

When Voucher is Pre-set (Fast Track)

If the voucher used !request @NewUser:

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

When Voucher is NOT Pre-set

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

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

Step 4: Good To Go (!gtg)

Manual approval by admins (bypasses vouch confirmation):

!gtg @NewUser

What happens:

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

Group Recommendations

Groups are recommended based on the user’s intro:

Core Groups (Everyone Gets)

Tech - Main tech discussion
Announcements - Community announcements

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

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

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

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

👋 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

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

How It Works

After GTG completes, the bot fires off a background task (never delays onboarding)
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
A draft profile is created on the career board (visible, availability: open to offers)
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

The extraction uses three providers in order:

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

Privacy

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

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

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

Command	Description
`!invite`	Start invite process (adds you to Entry)
`!request @user`	Initiate verification (you = voucher)
`!request -nv @user`	Initiate without vouching
`!gtg @user`	Manually approve user
`!pending`	View pending verifications
`!addto <group> @user`	Manually add user to group

Flow Diagrams

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)

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

”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

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

Verify Authentik integration is configured
Check bot logs for SSO errors
User may already have an account

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

Admin Commands - All admin commands
Groups - Group management
Core Commands - Basic bot commands

Member Onboarding Process

Overview

The Vouch-Based Trust Model

Step 1: Inviting Someone (!invite)

Step 2: Starting Verification (!request)

As the Voucher (Default)

Without Being the Voucher (-nv flag)

New User Intro Template

Step 3: Verification Flow

When Voucher is Pre-set (Fast Track)

When Voucher is NOT Pre-set

Step 4: Good To Go (!gtg)

Group Recommendations

Core Groups (Everyone Gets)

Interest-Based Groups

Special: Off Topic

Entry/INDOC Welcome Messages

When Voucher is Known

When Voucher is Unknown

Career Profile Auto-Creation

How It Works

AI Fallback Chain

Privacy

Backfilling Existing Members

Group Welcome Messages

Command Reference

Flow Diagrams

Standard Flow (Voucher-Initiated)

Admin-Initiated Flow (No Vouch)

Troubleshooting

”No voucher assigned” message

User not getting added to groups

SSO account not created

Auto-approval not working

Related Pages