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If you prefer to run the components without Docker, the complete manual setup steps are in CONTRIBUTING.md. The same environment variables documented in Configuration apply.

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Running each component

The client requires a production build (pnpm build then pnpm start) to serve static files. Use pnpm dev only during development, as it enables Next.js hot-reloading and is not suitable for production.

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Environment variables

Copy and configure the environment files before starting:
Set at minimum:
  • In server/.env: CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:3000
  • In client/.env.local: NEXT_PUBLIC_SOCKET_URL=http://localhost:3001
For anything reachable from the internet, also set NODE_ENV=production in server/.env. Docker sets it for you; a direct Node run does not, and Express only suppresses stack traces in its built-in error responses when the value is exactly production.

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Updating an existing deployment

The Docker instructions in Operations assume there is no repository to keep in sync. Running directly with Node means there is, so pull, reinstall, then restart:
Then restart the server with whatever supervises it (pm2 restart <name>, systemctl restart <unit>, or your own runner).
Reinstall before you restart, and do not skip it. A dependency update that only moves a lockfile changes no source file, so a restart on its own re-executes the same node_modules and the update silently does not take effect. The process comes back healthy and the old version is still running.
Confirm the restart landed by checking that uptime reset:
To confirm a specific dependency actually moved, read the installed version rather than trusting the restart: