diff --git a/docs/install-nix.md b/docs/install-nix.md
index 2ba8fac..d153349 100644
--- a/docs/install-nix.md
+++ b/docs/install-nix.md
@@ -38,18 +38,189 @@ In `configuration.nix`:
 {
   services.tranquil-pds = {
     enable = true;
-    database.createLocally = true;
+    database.createLocally = true; # set to false if you prefer to manually manage postgres. You must then set settings.database.url.
     settings = {
       server.hostname = "pds.example.com";
+      # database.url = "postgresql://user:postgres@example.com" -- Only if database.createLocally is set to false.
       # see example.toml for all options
     };
+    # see Secrets section for more information.
+    environmentFiles = [ "/etc/secrets/tranquil.env.production" ];
   };
 }
 ```
 
-This will set up the local postgres database for you automatically. If you prefer to manage postgres yourself, leave `database.createLocally` at its default (`false`) and set `settings.database.url` manually.
+You will also likely want to configure Caddy or nginx to actually serve traffic to the service. An example Caddy config is provided below.
 
-See [example.toml](../example.toml) for the full set of configuration options.
+See [example.toml](https://tangled.org/tranquil.farm/tranquil-pds/blob/main/example.toml) at the repository root for the full set of configuration options.
+
+### Example Caddy config
+
+```nix
+{
+  services.caddy = {
+    enable = true;
+
+    virtualHosts = {
+      "pds.example.com" = {
+        # by default, tranquil runs on port 3000.
+        # You can change this with the tranquil-pds.settings.server.port option in the service config.
+        extraConfig = ''
+          reverse_proxy localhost:3000
+        '';
+      };
+    };
+  };
+
+  networking.firewall.allowedTCPPorts = [
+    80
+    443
+  ];
+}
+```
+
+### Secrets
+
+Additionally, you will need to provide the following environment variables.
+
+```env
+# use `openssl rand -base64 32` to generate these.
+JWT_SECRET=<secret_here>
+DPOP_SECRET=<secret_here>
+MASTER_KEY=<secret_here>
+```
+
+The simplest (least secure and least reproducible) option is to provide these secrets in a `.env` file using the `environmentFiles` option as shown above.
+
+It is recommended that you use something like [`agenix`](https://github.com/ryantm/agenix) or [`sops-nix`](https://github.com/Mic92/sops-nix) for proper secrets management on a NixOS machine instead.
+
+Example `sops-nix` config:
+
+```nix
+let
+  inherit (config.sops) secrets;
+in
+{
+  services.tranquil-pds = {
+    enable = true;
+    database.createLocally = true;
+    settings = {
+      server.hostname = "pds.example.com";
+    };
+    environmentFiles = [ secrets.tranquils-secrets.path ];
+  };
+}
+```
+
+## Communications
+
+To actually be able to receive communications from the PDS for things like verification codes, or PLC operations, you must set at least one of the following options.
+
+### Email
+
+```nix
+let
+  inherit (config.sops) secrets;
+in
+{
+  services.tranquil-pds = {
+    enable = true;
+    database.createLocally = true;
+    settings = {
+      server.hostname = "pds.example.com";
+      email.from_address = "tranquil_admin@pds.example.com";
+      # email.from_name = "Tranquil PDS";
+    };
+    environmentFiles = [ secrets.tranquils-secrets.path ];
+  };
+}
+```
+
+For DKIM options, please consult the [example.toml](https://tangled.org/tranquil.farm/tranquil-pds/blob/main/example.toml) at the repository root.
+
+### Discord
+
+```nix
+let
+  inherit (config.sops) secrets;
+in
+{
+  services.tranquil-pds = {
+    enable = true;
+    database.createLocally = true;
+    settings = {
+      server.hostname = "pds.example.com";
+      # if you're using proper secrets management, you should provide DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN in the environment file instead.
+      discord.bot_token = "whatever";
+    };
+    environmentFiles = [ secrets.tranquils-secrets.path ];
+  };
+}
+```
+
+### Telegram
+
+```nix
+let
+  inherit (config.sops) secrets;
+in
+{
+  services.tranquil-pds = {
+    enable = true;
+    database.createLocally = true;
+    settings = {
+      server.hostname = "pds.example.com";
+      telegram = {
+        # if you're using proper secrets management, you should provide TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN in the environment file instead.
+        bot_token = "whatever";
+        # if you're using proper secrets management, you should provide TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_SECRET in the environment file instead.
+        webhook_secret = "whatever2";
+      };
+    };
+    environmentFiles = [ secrets.tranquils-secrets.path ];
+  };
+}
+```
+
+### Signal
+
+```nix
+let
+  inherit (config.sops) secrets;
+in
+{
+  services.tranquil-pds = {
+    enable = true;
+    database.createLocally = true;
+    settings = {
+      server.hostname = "pds.example.com";
+      # you must link a device using the admin API before enabling this option.
+      signal.enabled = true;
+    };
+    environmentFiles = [ secrets.tranquils-secrets.path ];
+  };
+}
+```
+
+### No comms channel
+
+If you have not set up any of these, you can technically still access any relevant information by querying the database directly.
+
+Please keep in mind this is a last-ditch attempt and it is highly recommended that you do in fact specify some channel for communications.
+
+Running `sudo -u tranquil-pds psql` will give you command line access to the PostgreSQL database.
+
+From there, you can run `SELECT * FROM comms_queue;` which will return all communications sent from the PDS. From there, you can extract any relevant information.
+
+## Bootstrap
+
+When the PDS service is able to properly run for the first time, you will be given a bootstrap invite code to migrate your repository to this PDS.
+
+The simplest way to find this invite code is to check the service logs by doing `journalctl -u tranquil-pds`.
+
+The log entry shold look something like this:
+
+`INFO tranquil_pds::state: No users exist and invite codes are required. Bootstrap invite code: <invite_code_here>`
 
 ## Binary cache