From 4f141b01c30a4e8e35de6484879d347fac28618c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Robert Perce <contact@rperce.net>
Date: Sat, 4 Apr 2026 22:59:39 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] docs: more README instructions

---
 README.md | 43 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 41 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 90fb9b5..fad7cb6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,17 +11,56 @@ I think of when I see "CRM".
     * Last-contact-time mapping
     * Address as single field (plus code? lat/long? go crazy!)
     * Free-text-entry field
+    * Desired contact periodicity
 * Journal with Obsidian-like `[[link]]` syntax
+* Contact groups (e.g. "Met with `[[Brunch Bunch]]` at the diner")
 * ical server for birthday reminders
 
+## Explore
+
+My instance is at https://crm.rperce.net. Username "demo" and password "demo" let
+you log into an ephemeral demo user if you want to poke around.
+
+If you want an account, contact me directly or use the "self-hosting" instructions below.
+
 ## Planned features
 * Report birthdays and manage add'l fields for contacts stored on a remote CardDAV server
 * Act as CardDAV server for other clients
 * For each contact:
     * Arbitrary add'l yearly dates (e.g. anniversaries) that show on calendar
     * Relationship mapping
-    * Desired contact periodicity
     * Additional arbitrary fields (no special handling)
-* Contact groups (e.g. "Met with `[[Brunch Bunch]]` at the diner")
 * "Named in journal but has no contact entry" detection
 * Email birthday reminders over SMTP
+
+---
+
+## Development / self-hosting
+
+1. Clone the repo.
+2. Build for your system with `./Taskfile _cargo build --release`.
+3. Deploy the binary from `./target/release/mascarpone` to wherever you want that's in PATH
+   (or use it from here if you want)
+4. In the working directory that you want the server to save its databases in,
+    1. Create a user for yourself with `mascarpone set-password YOUR_USERNAME`. This will create a `users.db` file.
+    2. Run `mkdir dbs`.
+    3. Copy the `hashed_static` directory from the code repository.
+5. Run `mascarpone serve [port]` from that working directory. The default port is 3000.
+   If you need to be able to bind to a host other than `0.0.0.0`, contact me directly.
+
+### Example systemd service file
+```
+[Unit]
+Description=Mascarpone CRM
+After=network.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=simple
+WorkingDirectory=/var/local/mascarpone/
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/mascarpone serve
+Restart=on-failure
+RestartSec=5
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
+```