> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://meepa.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Deploy

> Deploy MeepaChat to a VPS or cloud provider

MeepaChat runs as a single binary with Docker-managed infrastructure (Postgres, Redis, MinIO). Deploy it to any Linux server with Docker installed.

## Quick Start (any VPS)

On a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 server:

```bash theme={null}
# 1. Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

# 2. Install MeepaChat
curl -fsSL https://meepa.ai/install-meepachat.sh | sh

# 3. Set up infrastructure
meepachat init --yes

# 4. Start the server
meepachat start
```

`meepachat init --yes` pulls Docker images, starts Postgres, Redis, and MinIO, and writes config to `~/.meepachat/config.yaml`.

Access MeepaChat at `http://<server-ip>:8091`. The first user to register becomes admin.

***

## DigitalOcean

### One-click cloud-init

Create a droplet with MeepaChat pre-installed:

```bash theme={null}
doctl compute droplet create meepachat \
  --region nyc1 \
  --size s-2vcpu-4gb \
  --image ubuntu-24-04-x64 \
  --ssh-keys <YOUR_KEY_ID> \
  --user-data "$(curl -sfL https://meepa.ai/cloud-init-meepachat.sh)" \
  --wait
```

This installs Docker, MeepaChat, runs `meepachat init --yes`, and creates a systemd service automatically. MeepaChat is running by the time the droplet is ready (\~2–3 minutes).

<Note>
  Replace `<YOUR_KEY_ID>` with your SSH key ID. List keys with `doctl compute ssh-key list`.

  To add an SSH key:

  ```bash theme={null}
  ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your-email@example.com"
  doctl compute ssh-key import meepachat --public-key-file ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
  ```
</Note>

### Manual setup

1. Create an Ubuntu 24.04 droplet (minimum 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM recommended)
2. SSH in: `ssh root@<droplet-ip>`
3. Follow the [Quick Start](#quick-start-any-vps) instructions above

***

## Hetzner / Any Provider

Use cloud-init — paste as "User data" when creating a server:

```bash theme={null}
curl -sfL https://meepa.ai/cloud-init-meepachat.sh
```

After boot (\~5 minutes), open `http://<server-ip>:8091`.

***

## Run as a systemd Service

Keep MeepaChat running across reboots and SSH disconnects:

```bash theme={null}
cat > /etc/systemd/system/meepachat.service << EOF
[Unit]
Description=MeepaChat Server
After=network.target docker.service
Requires=docker.service

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/meepachat start --foreground
Environment=MEEPA_CONFIG_PATH=/root/.meepachat/config.yaml
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
LimitNOFILE=65536

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now meepachat
```

***

## Reverse Proxy

MeepaChat serves HTTP on port 8091. For production, put it behind a reverse proxy for TLS termination and a clean domain name.

### Caddy (recommended)

Caddy handles TLS automatically via Let's Encrypt:

```
chat.example.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8091
}
```

Set `BASE_URL=https://chat.example.com` in your config so cookies and links use the correct domain.

### Nginx

```nginx theme={null}
server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name chat.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/chat.example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/chat.example.com/privkey.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:8091;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}
```

<Warning>
  The `Upgrade` and `Connection` headers are required for WebSocket support. Without them, real-time messaging will not work.
</Warning>

***

## Firewall

If UFW is enabled, open the MeepaChat port:

```bash theme={null}
ufw allow 8091/tcp
```

In production behind a reverse proxy, you can restrict direct access to the port:

```bash theme={null}
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw deny 8091/tcp
```

***

## Recommended Server Specs

| Users  | vCPU | RAM  | Disk   |
| ------ | ---- | ---- | ------ |
| 1–50   | 1    | 2 GB | 25 GB  |
| 50–500 | 2    | 4 GB | 50 GB  |
| 500+   | 4    | 8 GB | 100 GB |

Storage needs depend on file upload volume. MeepaChat stores uploads in S3-compatible storage (MinIO by default). For heavy file sharing, use Cloudflare R2 or AWS S3 instead.