SELFHOST.md

Self-Hosting Forge

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose
• An Anthropic API key (for AI features) or OpenAI-compatible API key

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-org/forge.git
   cd forge

2. Create a .env file from the example:

   cp .env.example .env

3. Edit .env and set your values:

   AUTH_SECRET=<generate-a-random-secret>
   ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

4. Start all services:

   docker compose up -d

5. Open http://localhost in your browser.

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
AUTH_SECRET	Yes	-	Secret key for session encryption
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	No	-	Anthropic API key for Claude
OPENAI_API_KEY	No	-	OpenAI or compatible API key
OPENAI_BASE_URL	No	-	Custom base URL for OpenAI-compatible APIs
OPENAI_PROVIDER_NAME	No	OpenAI	Display name for the provider
OPENAI_MODELS	No	gpt-4o,gpt-4o-mini	Comma-separated model list
AI_DEFAULT_PROVIDER	No	anthropic	Default AI provider
AI_DEFAULT_MODEL	No	claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929	Default model
CORS_ORIGINS	No	http://localhost	Comma-separated allowed origins

Services

Service	Port	Description
Web	80	Frontend (nginx)
API	3001	Backend API
PostgreSQL	5435	Database
Redis	6382	Cache

Updating

git pull
docker compose build
docker compose up -d

Backup & Restore

Backup PostgreSQL

docker exec forge-postgres pg_dump -U forge forge > backup.sql

Restore PostgreSQL

docker exec -i forge-postgres psql -U forge forge < backup.sql

Troubleshooting

Check service logs:

docker compose logs api
docker compose logs web

Verify services are healthy:

docker compose ps