Installation

OpenPR supports three installation methods. Docker Compose is the fastest way to get a fully working instance.

Recommended

Docker Compose brings up all services (API, frontend, worker, MCP server, PostgreSQL) with a single command. No Rust toolchain or Node.js required.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Minimum	Notes
Docker	20.10+	Or Podman 3.0+ with podman-compose
Docker Compose	2.0+	Included with Docker Desktop
Rust (source build)	1.75.0	Not needed for Docker install
Node.js (source build)	20+	For building the SvelteKit frontend
PostgreSQL (source build)	15+	Docker method includes PostgreSQL
Disk Space	500 MB	Images + database
RAM	1 GB	2 GB+ recommended for production

Method 1: Docker Compose (Recommended)

Clone the repository and start all services:

git clone https://github.com/openprx/openpr.git
cd openpr
cp .env.example .env
docker-compose up -d

This starts five services:

Service	Container	Port	Description
PostgreSQL	openpr-postgres	5432	Database with auto-migration
API	openpr-api	8081 (maps to 8080)	REST API server
Worker	openpr-worker	--	Background task processor
MCP Server	openpr-mcp-server	8090	MCP tool server
Frontend	openpr-frontend	3000	SvelteKit web UI

Verify all services are running:

docker-compose ps

First User

The first user to register automatically becomes the admin. Make sure to register your admin account before sharing the URL with others.

Environment Variables

Edit .env to customize your deployment:

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgres://openpr:openpr@localhost:5432/openpr
POSTGRES_DB=openpr
POSTGRES_USER=openpr
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=openpr

# JWT (change in production!)
JWT_SECRET=change-me-in-production
JWT_ACCESS_TTL_SECONDS=2592000
JWT_REFRESH_TTL_SECONDS=604800

# Frontend
VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:8080

# MCP Server
MCP_SERVER_PORT=8090

Security

Always change JWT_SECRET and database passwords before deploying to production. Use strong, random values.

Method 2: Podman

OpenPR works with Podman as a Docker alternative. The key difference is that Podman requires --network=host for builds due to DNS resolution:

git clone https://github.com/openprx/openpr.git
cd openpr
cp .env.example .env

# Build images with network access
sudo podman build --network=host --build-arg APP_BIN=api -f Dockerfile.prebuilt -t openpr_api .
sudo podman build --network=host --build-arg APP_BIN=worker -f Dockerfile.prebuilt -t openpr_worker .
sudo podman build --network=host --build-arg APP_BIN=mcp-server -f Dockerfile.prebuilt -t openpr_mcp-server .
sudo podman build --network=host -f frontend/Dockerfile -t openpr_frontend frontend/

# Start services
sudo podman-compose up -d

Podman DNS

The frontend Nginx container uses 10.89.0.1 as the DNS resolver (Podman's default network DNS), not 127.0.0.11 (Docker's default). This is already configured in the included Nginx config.

Method 3: Build from Source

Backend

# Prerequisites: Rust 1.75+, PostgreSQL 15+
git clone https://github.com/openprx/openpr.git
cd openpr

# Configure
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your PostgreSQL connection string

# Build all binaries
cargo build --release -p api -p worker -p mcp-server

The binaries are located at:

• target/release/api -- REST API server
• target/release/worker -- Background worker
• target/release/mcp-server -- MCP tool server

Frontend

cd frontend
npm install    # or: bun install
npm run build  # or: bun run build

The build output is in frontend/build/. Serve it with Nginx or any static file server.

Database Setup

Create the database and run migrations:

# Create database
createdb -U postgres openpr

# Migrations run automatically on first API start
# Or apply manually:
psql -U openpr -d openpr -f migrations/0001_initial.sql
# ... apply remaining migrations in order

Start Services

# Terminal 1: API server
./target/release/api

# Terminal 2: Worker
./target/release/worker

# Terminal 3: MCP server
./target/release/mcp-server --transport http --bind-addr 0.0.0.0:8090

Verify Installation

Once all services are running, verify each endpoint:

# API health check
curl http://localhost:8080/health

# MCP server health
curl http://localhost:8090/health

# Frontend
curl -s http://localhost:3000 | head -5

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser to access the web UI.

Uninstalling

Docker Compose

cd openpr
docker-compose down -v  # -v removes volumes (database data)
docker rmi $(docker images 'openpr*' -q)

Source Build

# Stop running services (Ctrl+C in each terminal)
# Remove binaries
rm -f target/release/api target/release/worker target/release/mcp-server

# Drop database (optional)
dropdb -U postgres openpr

Next Steps

• Quick Start -- Create your first workspace and project in 5 minutes
• Docker Deployment -- Production Docker configuration
• Production Deployment -- Caddy, PostgreSQL, and security hardening