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Self-Hosting Guide

Requirements

  • Docker
  • Node.js 20+
  • npm
  • PostgreSQL 16+ via the provided Docker setup

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/kirill-markin/flashcards-open-source-app.git
cd flashcards-open-source-app
cp .env.example .env
make db-up
npm install --prefix api
npm install --prefix apps/auth
npm install --prefix apps/backend
npm install --prefix apps/web

Then run the services in separate terminals:

make auth-dev
make backend-dev
make web-dev

This starts:

  1. postgres on port 5432
  2. auth on port 8081
  3. backend on port 8080
  4. web on port 3000

Local URLs:

  • http://localhost:3000 for the web app
  • http://localhost:8080/v1 for the backend API
  • http://localhost:8081 for the auth service

Configuration

Copy .env.example to .env and adjust:

  • DATABASE_URL — Postgres connection string
  • AUTH_MODE — none for local use, cognito for email OTP auth
  • BACKEND_ALLOWED_ORIGINS — allowed browser origins for session-authenticated API requests
  • PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL and PUBLIC_AUTH_BASE_URL — optional overrides when you want discovery responses to advertise custom public hosts

iOS Local Config

The iOS app in the main repository reads its local API and auth hosts from:

apps/ios/Flashcards/Config/Local.xcconfig

Copy the example file if needed:

cp apps/ios/Flashcards/Config/Local.xcconfig.example apps/ios/Flashcards/Config/Local.xcconfig

Then point it at your local or self-hosted api and auth domains.

Updating

git pull
npm install --prefix api
npm install --prefix apps/auth
npm install --prefix apps/backend
npm install --prefix apps/web

Restart the local services after dependency changes.

AWS Deployment

The documented production shape is:

  • CloudFront + S3 for app.<domain>
  • API Gateway + Lambda for api.<domain>
  • API Gateway + Lambda for auth.<domain>
  • Postgres in AWS RDS
  • Cognito for passwordless email OTP
  • optional apex redirect when the root domain is otherwise unused

For the deployment details, see: