diff --git a/nixos/module/hectic/service/element.nix b/nixos/module/hectic/service/element.nix
index cf29873..c56042c 100644
--- a/nixos/module/hectic/service/element.nix
+++ b/nixos/module/hectic/service/element.nix
@@ -20,9 +20,14 @@ in {
         conf = {
           default_server_config = {
             "m.homeserver".base_url = "https://${cfg.matrixDomain}";
+            "m.homeserver".server_name = cfg.matrixDomain;
             "m.identity_server".base_url = "https://vector.im";
           };
 
+          room_directory.servers = [
+            cfg.matrixDomain
+          ];
+
           default_theme = "dark";
           show_labs_settings = true;
         };
diff --git a/nixos/module/hectic/service/matrix.nix b/nixos/module/hectic/service/matrix.nix
index 5e1c0fa..d843fd8 100644
--- a/nixos/module/hectic/service/matrix.nix
+++ b/nixos/module/hectic/service/matrix.nix
@@ -10,6 +10,23 @@
   ...
 }: let
   cfg = config.hectic.services.matrix;
+  matrixUsers = builtins.attrNames cfg.users;
+  mkUserRegistration = name: let
+    user = cfg.users.${name};
+    adminFlag = if user.admin then "--admin" else "--no-admin";
+  in ''
+    if [ ! -r "${user.passwordFile}" ]; then
+      printf 'Missing Matrix password file for %s: %s\n' '${name}' '${user.passwordFile}' >&2
+      exit 1
+    fi
+
+    ${pkgs.matrix-synapse}/bin/register_new_matrix_user \
+      -u '${name}' \
+      -p "$(tr -d '\n' < "${user.passwordFile}")" \
+      -k "$REGISTRATION_SHARED_SECRET" \
+      ${adminFlag} \
+      http://127.0.0.1:8008 || true
+  '';
 in {
   options = {
     hectic.services.matrix = {
@@ -49,13 +66,39 @@ in {
           domain to matrix
         '';
       };
+      users = lib.mkOption {
+        type = lib.types.attrsOf (lib.types.submodule {
+          options = {
+            passwordFile = lib.mkOption {
+              type = lib.types.str;
+              description = ''
+                Full path to a file containing the Matrix user's password.
+              '';
+            };
+            admin = lib.mkOption {
+              type = lib.types.bool;
+              default = false;
+              description = ''
+                Whether to create the Matrix user as an admin.
+              '';
+            };
+          };
+        });
+        default = {};
+        description = ''
+          Declarative Matrix users to provision after Synapse starts.
+        '';
+      };
     };
   };
   config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
     services.matrix-synapse = {
       enable = true;
-       settings = {
-         server_name = cfg.matrixDomain;
+      extraConfigFiles = [
+        cfg.secretsFile
+      ];
+      settings = {
+          server_name = cfg.matrixDomain;
          public_baseurl = "https://${cfg.matrixDomain}";
          experimental_features = {
            msc3266_enabled = true;
@@ -95,9 +138,6 @@ in {
         enable_registration = true;
         enable_registration_without_verification = true;
 
-        extraConfigFiles = [
-          cfg.secretsFile
-        ];
       };
     };
 
@@ -183,5 +223,30 @@ in {
         enableDebugLogs = true;
       };
     };
+    systemd.services.matrix-synapse-users = lib.mkIf (matrixUsers != []) {
+      description = "Provision Matrix Synapse users";
+      wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+      after = [ config.services.matrix-synapse.serviceUnit ];
+      requires = [ config.services.matrix-synapse.serviceUnit ];
+      path = with pkgs; [ curl coreutils gawk ];
+      serviceConfig = {
+        Type = "oneshot";
+        User = "matrix-synapse";
+      };
+      script = ''
+        until curl -sf http://127.0.0.1:8008/_matrix/client/versions >/dev/null; do
+          sleep 2
+        done
+
+        REGISTRATION_SHARED_SECRET="$(awk -F': *' '$1 == "registration_shared_secret" { print $2; exit }' "${cfg.secretsFile}")"
+
+        if [ -z "$REGISTRATION_SHARED_SECRET" ]; then
+          printf 'registration_shared_secret not found in %s\n' '${cfg.secretsFile}' >&2
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+${builtins.concatStringsSep "\n" (map mkUserRegistration matrixUsers)}
+      '';
+    };
   };
 }
diff --git a/nixos/system/hectic-lab/hectic-lab.nix b/nixos/system/hectic-lab/hectic-lab.nix
index e10cec6..95b0d92 100644
--- a/nixos/system/hectic-lab/hectic-lab.nix
+++ b/nixos/system/hectic-lab/hectic-lab.nix
@@ -63,6 +63,15 @@ in {
         port           = 5432;
         initialEnvFile = config.sops.secrets."init-postgresql".path;
       };
+      users = {
+        yukkop = {
+          passwordFile = config.sops.secrets."matrix/users/yukkop/password".path;
+          admin = true;
+        };
+        liquiz = {
+          passwordFile = config.sops.secrets."matrix/users/liquiz/password".path;
+        };
+      };
       inherit matrixDomain;
     };
   };
@@ -137,6 +146,7 @@ in {
   };
   sops.secrets."matrix/secrets" = {
     key = "matrix/secrets";
+    owner = "matrix-synapse";
   };
   sops.secrets."matrix/turn-secret" = {
     key   = "matrix/turn-secret";
@@ -144,6 +154,14 @@ in {
     group = "turnserver";
     mode  = "0400";
   };
+  sops.secrets."matrix/users/yukkop/password" = {
+    key = "matrix/users/yukkop/password";
+    owner = "matrix-synapse";
+  };
+  sops.secrets."matrix/users/liquiz/password" = {
+    key = "matrix/users/liquiz/password";
+    owner = "matrix-synapse";
+  };
 
   services.mailserver = {
     enable = true;
diff --git a/sus/hectic-lab.yaml b/sus/hectic-lab.yaml
index 3f8a8be..ff2ac98 100644
--- a/sus/hectic-lab.yaml
+++ b/sus/hectic-lab.yaml
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ mailserver:
 init-postgresql: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:Iw8M2P1QoqPVaEdM8Zo0qlHrYgop0iknDY4NtgDo,iv:RWj9AFnh4/KWCm3UH4RoCdM2lzsXGY7A7qko8xCxjp8=,tag:l8acSq8+NBXB4L1rVzG6kw==,type:str]
 matrix:
     secrets: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:ivXp2YSiMI4hgL6122Ex+fGW0lsZvGD6XmiRvNgFgvzLH5yDv9uLsYcGCTYfQSL3X5VyIMGvsdRF+4pbIjBZMuQKrjvXv74E7aFBLQ2Qk98N3IIrznUFR3KXbHR6xXy5ILd7Bmw5JI/ZHULbmITahXUBt2kEJvfh4eAtqShNA4vsJrabHX9A8Q+2Ddp16w0cWftV5++WXzlNpvIc2Py6BwvfroNAjpSaO+ILYDOIL7XjPvF83fTt64pxZ9nsi3hCzcDtBgGkqc8=,iv:wvt9V2uYQUwivSwEIYZwcHjXr5WwMw19lgFDIa1CcVw=,tag:/22UZvp7+1hLbt+kV+wokQ==,type:str]
+    users:
+        yukkop:
+            password: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:2JUc8U87HVrJIDc9j2InZKgTRQBP,iv:0tuM7TFENbiVi7aM0nTgvRJrK0vGLewsmWJz2MUi62g=,tag:RL61PCXzQFLObBwXthpk5Q==,type:str]
+        liquiz:
+            password: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:6y3eFrfAZ88=,iv:yEIr1Oq4x3jnWcymHwrLDioKqapzaiOfNPvkgiNIOiw=,tag:CJ3gWTRpQtEEaMkYUOb8Mg==,type:str]
     turn-secret: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:2RerKgYNFXEVM/YVmXt2l+t3BqduS+FlmjBWTA==,iv:6odb0HB9mntsceNaJtU2kwEVAiF0O88u47eDPLZVJbs=,tag:BJXAvK8abcnCLi96Kra5zA==,type:str]
 wg-bfs:
     private-key: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:/J02asiesrQcsO7Xbq66HQIQeSPmFEMkM2q/z+9Y42K8SYEQP0OYQz+8fXI=,iv:PdGhPWgGxhe0a7C6CaVM/ePKABT+y8HRFOAPzNwQk+c=,tag:9AI30JFh6uyaXXVjMBJ1zg==,type:str]
@@ -76,7 +81,7 @@ sops:
             Yk43ZmlTc09aNFV1VjdjN2RWQlFWTDQKcYSvA2lHP8GS0lkYY19Tm8RXmFHQX5Ck
             qV2Fn22Fic4M5FVKDEMfaO6WmeXgki9a8dGeO9LlC+Phf16SOq7eLw==
             -----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----
-    lastmodified: "2026-05-22T20:03:30Z"
-    mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:L59emZfOoFtisno0/yYVRtutaJAClIDStt6aWUzCI+WPU2g4XX5/pKGr3Lhd5bhyq7v+GWQJ6D94AfmeyVIIr2aJVQNlPlRKc+1Tn7VKDdqP2Seb4erkMmmxrmG6b7qCTTR7llF6zaqXXsnRav1JrTX1B5GFSgRjmIaVpM2Ik64=,iv:3u+LMlOdTYgXgqnFMamwlAJhqixB+P/cvyYyPlzqjjs=,tag:WyGkpArTk4r/nq+WA2vgPQ==,type:str]
+    lastmodified: "2026-05-22T20:46:03Z"
+    mac: ENC[AES256_GCM,data:IE3N17kJDlgoIp4kYSpWqLRC1wA61OEBB/vz3wCEmZuQpO4uPd+ymSjGtTHXSc+Ppie5mFv9t+mHbhqsDjw33yts7FDdMB8OFxSO4qBQu4itLHWA+lSylknn/a/aZg6YZO9ppYjD4NQVZhFVJUl+7oBuuHlaEofB9i7c1lIkXts=,iv:X3nLOMhpZaba/NBl2vAIX0TXQp0k99N7y+gVRXVNbiM=,tag:RHB3a4yYaSgsJ5atrREf9g==,type:str]
     unencrypted_suffix: _unencrypted
     version: 3.10.2