Frequently Asked Questions

What is Tovu?

A content management system that runs on your own machine. You write posts and pages in a normal editor, a theme renders them into a site, and the whole thing — content, themes, settings — lives in one folder you control.

Is Tovu ready to use?

Tovu is at MVP. Writing, publishing, pages, themes, media and the built-in assistant all work, and they are what we use to run this site. Expect rough edges, expect things to change, and do not yet put anything mission-critical on it without your own backups.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. Writing, publishing and switching themes are all point-and-click. Code is available if you want it — themes are real editable files — but nothing requires it.

Is there a hosted version?

No. There is no managed plan, no signup, and no Tovu-run servers today. Tovu runs on your machine and that is the only way to run it right now.

A self-hosted version — where you run Tovu on your own server and point a domain at it — is on the roadmap, but it is much later, and we are not going to put a date on it while we are still at MVP.

Where does my content live?

In a SQLite database file inside your site folder, next to a themes directory of ordinary files. That is the complete site. You can copy it, move it, put it in git, or open the database with any SQLite tool.

Does anything phone home?

Your content is not sent anywhere by Tovu. The one deliberate exception is the AI assistant: if you use it, your messages go to whichever AI provider you have configured, because that is how it thinks. Do not use the assistant and nothing leaves the machine.

How do I back up?

Copy the site folder. That is genuinely all of it. Since nobody is snapshotting anything for you, this is your job — and it is worth doing before you experiment.

What happens to my site if Tovu goes away?

Your posts stay a readable SQLite database and your theme stays HTML and CSS. You would need different software to serve it, but nothing is locked in a format only we can open.

Can I use my own theme?

Yes. A theme is a folder of templates, tokens and assets — no build step and no framework required. Tovu ships several to start from.

If I switch themes, do I lose my content?

No. Content and presentation are separate. Switching themes re-renders the same posts and pages a different way.

Are my theme edits safe when Tovu updates?

Be careful here, and keep a copy of any theme you have customised. This is an area we are actively hardening during MVP.

What can the assistant actually do?

Write and edit pages and posts, publish and unpublish, work on themes, manage media, and answer questions about your own site. You ask in plain language; it performs the action in the admin.

Can it break my site?

It has no direct access to your database or a shell. Every action it can take is a registered, reviewed tool, and each call passes through a deny-by-default gate that logs it. Destructive actions such as deleting a post stop and ask you first, and deletions are recoverable rather than permanent.

Do I have to use it?

No. Tovu is a complete CMS without ever opening the assistant.