Docker Setup

InlineCMS is designed for easy self-hosting. One docker-compose up gets you a fully working instance with PostgreSQL, the API, and the dashboard.

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/inlinecms/inlinecms
cd inlinecms/docker

# Create your environment file
cp ../apps/api/.env.example .env

Edit .env with your values:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@postgres:5432/inlinecms
JWT_SECRET=your-secret-here-at-least-32-characters-long

Start everything:

docker-compose up

The API runs at http://localhost:3001 and serves the dashboard at the same origin.

Creating your first project

After the server starts, create a project and admin user:

curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/v1/projects \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "name": "My Site",
    "admin": {
      "email": "admin@example.com",
      "password": "your-secure-password"
    }
  }'

Save the apiKey from the response — you’ll need it for the SDK.

Pointing the SDK at your instance

vite.config.ts

inlineCMS({
  apiKey: 'your-api-key',
  apiUrl: 'https://cms.yourdomain.com',
})

Docker Compose services

The docker-compose.yml runs two services:

Service	Description
postgres	PostgreSQL 16 Alpine with health checks
api	InlineCMS API + dashboard, auto-runs migrations on start

Production deployment

For production, update the docker-compose.yml:

1. Change JWT_SECRET to a strong random value
2. Set proper POSTGRES_PASSWORD
3. Configure a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy) for HTTPS
4. Optionally configure S3/R2 for media storage
5. Optionally enable Google/GitHub sign-in — see OAuth Sign-In