How can I deploy my Hexabot project?

Choose a Docker or manual deployment path for Hexabot v3 behind NGINX, PostgreSQL, and HTTPS.

Use this guide to choose the right production path for Hexabot v3.

Hexabot supports both direct host deployment and Docker-based deployment.

Choose your deployment method

• Docker Deployment — use this when you want Compose-managed services and a containerized runtime.

• Manual Deployment — use this when you want to run Hexabot directly with Node.js on the host.

What stays the same

Hexabot serves the admin UI and API from the same NestJS app.

• The default app port is 3000.

• The API lives under /api.

• The health check lives at /api/health.

NGINX should proxy all traffic to the same app port.

Do not strip or rewrite /api.

Shared prerequisites

You need:

• A Linux server with SSH access

• Node.js >= 24.17.0

• One package manager: npm, pnpm, yarn, or bun

• PostgreSQL

• NGINX

• Certbot

Install Docker only if you choose the Docker path.

Helpful setup guides:

• Setup Node.js with NVM

• Setting Up Docker

• CLI Command Reference

• SMTP Configuration

Shared production notes

Keep the first database bootstrap private.

The first admin and baseline data are seeded only outside production mode.

For ongoing production:

• Keep DB_SYNCHRONIZE=false

• Keep DB_AUTO_MIGRATE=true on one primary API node only

• Match client_max_body_size with UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE_IN_BYTES

• Use PostgreSQL instead of SQLite

Hexabot uses .env for manual deployment and .env.docker for Docker deployment.

Next step

Open the guide that matches your runtime and follow it end to end:

• Docker Deployment

• Manual Deployment