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cyph3rasi fb624c4ed1 Configure official Stuffbox URL in example and fresh VPS installs

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Synapsis

Your node. Your network. Your identity.

Synapsis is an open-source federated social network built around sovereign DIDs, portable user-owned media storage, and the Swarm network.

Run a node on a VPS

Synapsis runs directly under systemd. It does not require Docker, PostgreSQL, or a bundled reverse proxy.

Prerequisites:

A Linux VPS with systemd
Node.js 20 or newer
Git, npm, and OpenSSL
Your own nginx, Caddy, Traefik, or other reverse proxy

Install from a checkout:

sudo bash deploy/install.sh
sudo nano /etc/synapsis.env
sudo bash /opt/synapsis/deploy/update.sh

The service binds only to 127.0.0.1:43821. Point your reverse proxy at that address and terminate TLS there. PORT can be overridden in /etc/synapsis.env if needed.

The installer creates:

Application checkout: /opt/synapsis
Environment file: /etc/synapsis.env
Embedded Turso database: /var/lib/synapsis/synapsis.db
Service: synapsis.service

Useful commands:

sudo systemctl status synapsis
sudo journalctl -u synapsis -f
sudo /opt/synapsis/deploy/update.sh
sudo /opt/synapsis/deploy/uninstall.sh

Uninstalling preserves the database and environment by default. Pass --purge-data only when you intentionally want to remove both.

Storage and account portability

The node database is a local embedded Turso/SQLite file. Media remains in storage controlled by each user, so exported accounts retain portable media URLs and can move between Synapsis nodes without requiring the old node to transfer a shared upload directory.

Stuffbox is the default integration. New installs use https://stuffbox.xyz; set STUFFBOX_URL to a different public URL when using another or self-hosted Stuffbox service. Synapsis uses a consent and PKCE flow, keeps the resulting tokens encrypted with AUTH_SECRET, and sends file bytes directly from the user's browser to Stuffbox.

User-owned S3-compatible storage remains available as an advanced fallback. Supported providers include AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, and Contabo.

Development

git clone https://githop.xyz/GnosysLabs/Synapsis.git
cd Synapsis
npm install
cp .env.example .env
npm run db:migrate
npm run dev

The development database defaults to ./data/synapsis.db. No separate database server is needed.

Common commands:

npm run type-check
npm test
npm run db:generate
npm run db:migrate
npm run build

Architecture

Framework: Next.js 16 and React 19
Database: embedded Turso with Drizzle ORM's relational-query v2 API
Identity: DIDs and per-user signing keys
Media: user-owned Stuffbox or S3-compatible storage
Federation: Synapsis Swarm discovery and signed interactions
Deployment: native Node.js process managed by systemd

License

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

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