Documentation

System Requirements

Before installing EchoAI, ensure your server meets the following requirements.

Server Requirements

Required PHP Extensions

API Keys Required

You need at least one of these to enable AI functionality:

• DeepSeek – Text generation (chat, reasoning) – Get key
• OpenAI – Text generation (alternative) – Get key
• OpenAI – Image generation (DALL‑E) – optional

Sngine Requirements

• Sngine 3.0+ installed and accessible
• Sngine packages table must have thinking_mode_allowed and memory_limit columns (the installer adds them automatically)

Installation Guide

Follow these steps to get EchoAI up and running on your Sngine site.

Step 1 – Upload the Files

Upload the EchoAI.zip folder to the root of your Sngine directory (e.g., /public_html/). Extract the archive so you have a folder like /echoai/ or /covenai/.

Step 2 – Run the Installer

Navigate to https://yourdomain.com/echoai/installation.php in your browser.

You will see the installation wizard:

• Step 1: Enter your database credentials (same as Sngine). Click "Test Database Connection" to verify.
• Enter your Sngine URL, AI name (e.g., "EchoAI"), and the theme path (e.g., content/themes/default).
• Step 2: Upload the echoai.sql file (included in the purchase package).
• Step 3: Review the installation summary and click "Install EchoAI".

Step 3 – Post‑Installation

• Set up the avatar: Copy /echoai/avatar.jpg to /content/themes/default/images/avatar.jpg (or your active theme's images folder).
• Configure API keys: Go to the admin panel → API Keys and add your DeepSeek / OpenAI keys.
• Set up cron: Add the daily token reset cron job (see the Cron Jobs section).

🔄 Re‑Installation

EchoAI gives admins the ability to wipe everything (including the database) and start fresh whenever needed.

• Simply navigate again to https://yourdomain.com/echoai/installation.php
• Click the 🗑️ Reset & Begin Fresh button
• Follow the installation wizard from the beginning

AI Chat

The core of EchoAI – a powerful, real‑time conversational AI experience.

Key Features

• Real‑time streaming – responses appear character by character (DeepSeek).
• Thinking Mode – enables DeepSeek's reasoning engine, showing live reasoning steps with a timer.
• Multi‑language responses – auto‑detects the user's language and replies accordingly.
• Code block minimap – VS‑Code‑style minimap for long code snippets.
• Image generation – integrated with OpenAI DALL‑E or DeepSeek (text description).
• File uploads – users can upload images, PDFs, and documents for AI analysis.

Thinking Mode

When Thinking Mode is enabled (per package permission), the AI shows its reasoning process before delivering the final answer. This is perfect for complex queries where transparency builds trust.

Token & Pricing System

EchoAI includes a flexible, monetizable token system that gives you full control over pricing.

Pricing Models

Package Management

Admins can create and manage token packages from the admin panel → Packages. Each package includes:

• Tokens – the initial token balance
• Daily / Weekly / Monthly Limits – usage caps per period
• Reset Period – daily, weekly, or monthly token reset
• Thinking Mode – enable/disable for this package
• Memory Limit – max memory entries per user

Memory System

EchoAI remembers important facts about users, creating a personalised experience across conversations.

Features

• Per‑conversation memory – AI remembers facts within a specific chat.
• Global memory – if enabled, the AI remembers across all conversations.
• Memory limits – per‑user, per‑entry, and per‑conversation limits.
• Package‑based memory limit – premium packages can have more memory entries.
• Import / Export – admins can export memories as JSON.

Admin Controls

• Clear all memories
• Clear memories for a specific user
• View memory usage statistics

Personality System

Allow users to customise their AI experience – available to selected packages.

What Users Can Customise

• AI Name – give the AI a custom name
• Color Theme – choose from 9 themes, including animated colours
• Background URL – set a custom background image
• Disable Filters – bypass the blocklist (if allowed by admin)
• Custom JSON Responses – trigger‑based custom replies

Image Generation

Users can generate images directly from the chat interface using natural language prompts.

• OpenAI DALL‑E – full image generation with local caching.
• DeepSeek – generates a detailed text description of the requested image (useful for budget‑friendly setups).
• Local Storage – images are saved in /assets/images/YYYY-MM/ and served from your server.
• Duplicate Caching – identical prompts return the cached image, saving tokens.

Admins can set the cost per image in Settings → Costs & Tokens.

Folder Settings New

Organise your conversations like never before. EchoAI now lets users create custom folders to group chats, assign colours and emojis, and save conversations for quick access.

How It Works

• Click the "+" button in the sidebar to create a new folder.
• Enter a folder name, select a colour from the palette, and choose an emoji.
• Once created, the folder appears in your sidebar. Drag any conversation into it, or use the conversation menu to move it.
• Folders are saved per user – each user has their own set of folders.
• Admins can manage folder settings globally, including limiting the number of folders per user.

AI Media Search New

Supercharge your community by enabling AI-powered search for Sngine posts directly from the EchoAI interface.

How It Works

• When enabled, a icon appears in the chat input area.
• Click the icon to activate Search Mode – the input placeholder changes to "Search public posts...".
• Type your query (e.g., "recent updates about AI") and send. The AI will search Sngine's public posts.
• The response will include a list of matching posts with:
• Post content (snippet)
• Author – who posted it
• URL – a clickable link to the original post
• Users can then click the link to view the full post on your site.

Dashboard

The home base for admins – a quick overview of your entire system.

• Total Users – registered users count
• Total Tokens – tokens in circulation
• Text Generations – total AI text requests
• Images Generated – total images created
• AI Commands – number of custom commands
• Blocked Topics – active blocklist entries

Quick action buttons give you one‑click access to Users, Packages, Commands, Blocklist, and Settings.

Users

The user management hub – view, search, and manage all registered accounts.

Actions Available

• Search & Filter – by name, email, status (active/blocked), token balance
• Token Management – add, remove, or set exact token balance
• Block / Unblock – with custom reason
• Clear Memory – remove all AI memories for a user
• Delete Chats – permanently remove all conversations
• View Stats – message count, conversation count, daily/weekly/monthly usage, language preference, memory mode

Packages

Manage your pricing and service tiers – both Sngine subscriptions and EchoAI token packages.

Sngine Packages

View and edit AI‑specific settings for each Sngine subscription package:

• Token amount
• Daily / Weekly / Monthly / Hourly limits
• Reset period
• Cost per text, image, file
• Thinking Mode toggle
• Memory limit

EchoAI Token Packages

Standalone token packages that override Sngine packages:

• Tokens, limits, reset period
• Thinking Mode toggle
• Memory limit
• Set as default package
• Bulk token management: refresh, pause, resume, delete

AI Management

Fine‑tune the AI's behaviour and capabilities.

Commands

Create custom slash commands (e.g., /help, /summarize) that users can type to trigger specific AI responses. Each command can have its own system prompt.

Blocklist

Add forbidden words or phrases. If a user's message contains a blocked word, the request is rejected with a custom response.

API Keys

Manage your DeepSeek and OpenAI API keys. Test each key with a single click to verify it's working.

Content

Tools for communicating with your users and collecting feedback.

Announcements

Send global news, maintenance alerts, or feature updates to all users. Announcements appear as in‑app notifications.

Reports & Feedback

View user‑submitted reports and feedback. Mark them as resolved, reply, or take action (e.g., ban a user).

System

Core configuration and technical administration.

Settings

The central configuration panel. Adjust everything from the AI name and avatar to pricing models, memory limits, and feature toggles.

• General – AI brand name, avatar icon, system prompt, default language
• AI Configuration – default API providers, model selection, temperature
• Costs & Tokens – pricing model, token costs, thinking mode cost
• Memory – context window size, max memory entries
• Language – allow users to change language
• Personality – enable personality system, select allowed packages
• Feedback – disable like/dislike, copy, or report buttons
• Social Post Search – enable/disable AI search for Sngine posts

Live Stats

Real‑time monitoring: online users, today's activity, token usage trends, device breakdown, top users, and feedback statistics.

Logs

Historical record of admin actions – every settings change, user block, token adjustment, and more, logged with IP and user agent for security auditing.

Cron Jobs

EchoAI relies on a daily cron job to reset user tokens and usage counters. This is essential for the token system to work correctly.

The Cron Command

Add this to your server's crontab (e.g., via HestiaCP, cPanel, or crontab -e):

0 0 * * * php /home/user/web/yourdomain.com/public_html/echoai/cron/reset_tokens.php >> /home/user/logs/echoai_reset.log 2>&1

What It Does

• Checks every user's last_reset timestamp against their package's reset_period (daily, weekly, or monthly).
• If the period has passed, it resets the token balance to the package's token amount and sets usage counters to 0.
• Updates last_reset to the current time.

Testing the Cron

You can run the script manually to test it:

php /home/user/web/yourdomain.com/public_html/echoai/cron/reset_tokens.php

If you see output like Completed. X users had their tokens reset., it's working.

Updating EchoAI

Keeping EchoAI up‑to‑date ensures you have the latest features, bug fixes, and security patches. This guide covers the manual update process – an automatic updater is in development.

📦 Manual Update Process (Recommended)

This is the only method currently available – it gives you full control and is the safest way to update.

1. Download the latest version – Obtain the new EchoAI ZIP package (e.g., EchoAI_v1.1.zip) from the marketplace or your purchase email.
2. Extract the Update folder – Inside the ZIP, locate the Update folder. This folder contains all files that have changed since the previous version.
3. Check for SQL updates – Inside the Update folder, look for a .sql file (e.g., Gallery.sql). Note: Not every update includes a SQL file – some updates only modify PHP files. If a SQL file is present, proceed to step 4; otherwise, skip to step 5.
4. Apply the SQL changes – Log in to your database management tool (e.g., phpMyAdmin), select your EchoAI database, and import the .sql file. This adds new tables or columns required for the new features.
5. Replace the updated files – Copy the contents of the Update folder to your server's EchoAI installation directory (e.g., /public_html/echoai/). Important: Do not delete or overwrite entire folders – only copy the individual files from the Update folder into their corresponding locations. For example, if the Update folder contains a settings.php file, replace only that file in your existing admin/settings.php path. Replacing entire folders can corrupt your installation or cause missing file errors.
6. Clear your cache – After all files are replaced, clear any server‑side caches (e.g., OpCache, Redis) and your browser cache to ensure the new code is loaded.

Note: An automatic update feature is currently in development and will be available in future releases. For now, please use the manual process described above.

🔄 Post‑Update Steps

• Verify that the new features are working as expected.
• Test the AI chat, token system, and admin panel.
• If you encounter issues, check the FAQ or contact support.

Changelog

All notable changes to EchoAI are documented here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the most common questions about EchoAI.