Connect Nextcloud: service user and app password
How to keep a Nextcloud folder in sync with your knowledge base. Kyros reads the folder with a separate user that may only read it.
Before you start
- Your plan includes external sources. Otherwise Kyros shows a plan hint instead of the “Nextcloud” tile.
- Your Nextcloud is reachable from the internet over HTTPS on port 443 with a valid certificate. Servers reachable only on an internal network, through a VPN or behind an IP allow-list can’t be connected. We don’t currently publish a fixed IP address for allow-lists.
- A separate folder with content that may be public only. The chatbot may repeat anything in this folder publicly.
- PDF, DOCX, TXT, Markdown and CSV up to 20 MB per file are taken over; scanned PDFs only on plans with text recognition. Other files are skipped and listed in Kyros.
1. Create a separate user
As a Nextcloud administrator, create a new account under “Users”, for example chatbot, without admin rights and without files of its own. Why a separate user? An app password works for the whole account. With your personal account Kyros could read and change all your files; with the separate user it can only read one folder.
2. Share the folder read-only
Share the folder with the user chatbot and switch off everything except “Read” in the share settings (edit, create, delete, reshare). Kyros checks whether the access can write when you connect, and warns you if so.
3. Create an app password
Sign in as chatbot, open “Personal settings” → “Security” and create an app password under “Devices & sessions”, named “Kyros knowledge base”, for example. Copy it right away; Nextcloud shows it only once. With two-factor sign-in or single sign-on, only an app password works anyway.
4. Connect in Kyros
- Open the knowledge base and click “Nextcloud” under “Add content”.
- Confirm that the folder holds public content only.
- Enter the address (e.g.
https://cloud.example.com), user name and app password, then “Connect”. - Pick the shared folder and check the preview: number of files, skipped files, estimated size.
- Choose a name and an interval (every 15 minutes to daily), then “Connect and sync”.
What happens next
The first sync takes over every matching file. After that Kyros checks at the chosen interval what is new, changed or deleted; “Sync now” starts at once. Kyros doesn’t keep the original files, only the extracted text, which counts towards your storage. The app password is stored encrypted and never shown again.
End or change the access
- In Kyros: “Disconnect”. You choose whether the synced documents are deleted (preselected) or kept.
- In Nextcloud: revoke the app password under “Devices & sessions”. Kyros then reports “Access denied”.
- New app password: “Replace login” on the source in Kyros, then revoke the old one in Nextcloud.
If it doesn’t work
- “The username or app password was rejected”: a typo or a revoked app password. After several failed attempts Nextcloud briefly slows down further sign-ins.
- “This server can’t be reached from the internet”: the address points to an internal network or a port other than 443.
- “The folder was not found”: the share was removed or the folder renamed.
More about the knowledge base on the product page. Microsoft 365 has its own guide: Connect SharePoint.
Knowledge from your Nextcloud in your chatbot.
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