# 1. Create a directory for your Synapsis instance
mkdir -p /opt/synapsis
cd /opt/synapsis

# 2. Download the required files
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cyph3rasi/synapsis/main/docker-compose.yml
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cyph3rasi/synapsis/main/docker/Caddyfile
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cyph3rasi/synapsis/main/docker/.env.example

# 3. Set up environment variables
cp .env.example .env
nano .env  # Edit all required values

# 4. Start the stack
docker compose up -d

# 5. Check logs
docker compose logs -f

Your Synapsis instance will be available at https://your-domain.com (Caddy automatically handles SSL).

📋 Server Requirements

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
RAM	2 GB	4 GB
CPU	2 cores	4 cores
Disk	20 GB SSD	50 GB SSD
OS	Ubuntu 22.04/24.04, Debian 12, or compatible

Required Software

Docker 24.0+
Docker Compose 2.20+

Installation (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

# Verify
docker --version
docker compose version

🔧 Configuration

1. Environment Variables

Copy .env.example to .env and configure:

cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Required settings:

DOMAIN - Your domain name (e.g., synapsis.example.com)
DB_PASSWORD - Strong database password
AUTH_SECRET - Generate with openssl rand -hex 32
ADMIN_EMAILS - Admin user email(s)
STORAGE_* - S3-compatible storage credentials

2. DNS Setup

Point your domain's A record to your server's IP address:

A  synapsis.example.com  →  YOUR_SERVER_IP

Caddy will automatically obtain and renew SSL certificates via Let's Encrypt.

🔄 Updates

Updating is now simple - just pull the latest image:

cd /opt/synapsis

# Pull the latest image
docker compose pull

# Restart with new image
docker compose up -d

# Run migrations if needed
docker compose exec app npx drizzle-kit push

# Verify
docker compose ps
docker compose logs -f app

One-Command Update Script

Create update.sh:

#!/bin/bash
cd /opt/synapsis
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
docker compose exec -T app npx drizzle-kit push || true
echo "✅ Update complete!"

Make it executable and run:

chmod +x update.sh
./update.sh

📁 Directory Structure

/opt/synapsis/
├── docker-compose.yml      # Main orchestration file (downloaded from GitHub)
├── Caddyfile               # Caddy reverse proxy config
├── .env                    # Your environment variables
└── update.sh               # Optional update script

Note: You no longer need to clone the entire Git repository. Just download the three files above.

🛠️ Management Commands

View Logs

docker compose logs -f app      # Application logs
docker compose logs -f caddy    # Caddy logs
docker compose logs -f postgres # Database logs
docker compose logs -f          # All logs

Database Operations

# Access database shell
docker compose exec postgres psql -U synapsis -d synapsis

# Backup database
docker compose exec postgres pg_dump -U synapsis synapsis > backup.sql

# Restore database
docker compose exec -T postgres psql -U synapsis -d synapsis < backup.sql

# Run migrations manually
docker compose exec app npx drizzle-kit push

Container Management

# Restart services
docker compose restart app
docker compose restart caddy

# Stop everything
docker compose down

# Stop and remove volumes (⚠️ destroys data!)
docker compose down -v

# View running containers
docker compose ps

# Enter container shell
docker compose exec app sh
docker compose exec postgres sh

🔒 Security Features

This Docker setup includes:

Immutable source code - Application runs from pre-built image
Non-root execution - App runs as unprivileged user
Network isolation - Services communicate via internal Docker network
Automatic HTTPS - Caddy handles SSL certificates
Security headers - X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, etc.
Resource limits - Memory constraints on all containers
Health checks - Automatic container health monitoring

🔍 Troubleshooting

Container won't start

# Check for configuration errors
docker compose config

# View detailed logs
docker compose logs app --tail=100

Database connection failed

# Check database is healthy
docker compose ps

# Verify environment variables
docker compose exec app env | grep DATABASE

SSL certificate issues

# Check Caddy logs
docker compose logs caddy

# Test Caddy configuration
docker compose exec caddy caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Port already in use

# Find process using port 80/443
sudo netstat -tlnp | grep :80

# Change ports in docker-compose.yml if needed

Image pull fails

# Check if image exists
docker pull ghcr.io/cyph3rasi/synapsis:latest

# View available tags at:
# https://github.com/cyph3rasi/synapsis/pkgs/container/synapsis

📊 Monitoring

Health Checks

App: https://your-domain.com/api/health
Caddy: Built into the Caddyfile

Resource Usage

# Container stats
docker stats

# Disk usage
docker system df

💾 Backup Strategy

Automated Backup Script

Create /opt/synapsis/backup.sh:

#!/bin/bash
BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/synapsis"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

# Database backup
docker compose exec -T postgres pg_dump -U synapsis synapsis > "$BACKUP_DIR/db_$DATE.sql"

# Uploads backup
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/uploads_$DATE.tar.gz" -C /var/lib/docker/volumes/synapsis_uploads_data/_data .

# Keep only last 7 days
find $BACKUP_DIR -type f -mtime +7 -delete

echo "✅ Backup complete: $DATE"

Add to crontab:

0 2 * * * /opt/synapsis/backup.sh >> /var/log/synapsis-backup.log 2>&1

🏗️ Building from Source (Advanced)

If you prefer to build the image locally instead of using the pre-built one:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/cyph3rasi/synapsis.git
cd synapsis/docker

# Build and run
docker compose -f docker-compose.build.yml up -d --build

See docker-compose.yml in the docker/ directory for the build configuration.

📞 Support

For issues or questions:

Check logs: docker compose logs -f
Review configuration: docker compose config
Consult the main Synapsis documentation: https://docs.synapsis.social

📝 License

This Docker configuration follows the same license as Synapsis (Apache 2.0).