Self-hosting with Docker Compose

The repository ships a Compose file, deploy/docker-compose.yml, with two services: postgres (Postgres 16) and engine (the Outflare binary with the built web app). That is the whole stack.

Requirements

A Linux server with Docker and the Compose plugin. 1 vCPU and 1 GB of RAM is enough to start; add memory as you add mailboxes, since each one keeps an IMAP connection open once inbox sync ships.
Outbound access to your mailboxes’ SMTP and IMAP servers: ports 465 or 587 and 993. Some cloud providers block outbound SMTP by default, so check yours.
A domain name and HTTPS in front of the engine if anyone other than you will use it.

Install

git clone https://github.com/outflareai/outflare
cd outflare
cp deploy/.env.example deploy/.env
echo "OUTFLARE_SECRET_KEY=$(openssl rand -base64 32)" >> deploy/.env
# edit deploy/.env: set a strong POSTGRES_PASSWORD
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml up -d

From a release, without cloning

Each release ships outflare-<version>.tar.gz on GitHub Releases. Its docker-compose.yml pulls the published image ghcr.io/outflareai/outflare:<version> (amd64 and arm64) instead of building from source:

tar xzf outflare-<version>.tar.gz && cd outflare-<version>
cp .env.example .env
echo "OUTFLARE_SECRET_KEY=$(openssl rand -base64 32)" >> .env
docker compose up -d

No version has been released yet, so for now install from the repository as shown above. Release images send the anonymous daily report unless you turn it off.

Open http://your-server:8080 and complete setup. The first visit creates the owner account and first workspace.

Settings

deploy/.env is read by Compose. These are the settings it passes through:

Variable	Default	What it does
`POSTGRES_PASSWORD`	`outflare`	Password for the bundled Postgres. Change it before exposing the instance.
`PORT`	`8080`	Host port the app and API are published on.
`OUTFLARE_SECRET_KEY`	none, required	Base64 32-byte key that encrypts mailbox passwords and provider keys at rest. Generate with `openssl rand -base64 32`.
`WORKERS`	`32`	Concurrent job workers for sending, inbox sync and connection checks.

The engine itself reads more settings. See the full configuration reference.

Put it behind HTTPS

Run a reverse proxy in front of port 8080. With Caddy, which fetches certificates for you, the whole config is:

outflare.example.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8080
}

Then tell the engine its public address, so invite links point at the right place and session cookies are marked Secure. The bundled Compose file does not pass PUBLIC_URL through yet, so add it to the engine service:

  engine:
    environment:
      PUBLIC_URL: https://outflare.example.com

Finally, stop publishing port 8080 to the internet, or firewall it, so all traffic goes through the proxy.

Health checks

Endpoint	Meaning
`GET /healthz`	The process is up.
`GET /readyz`	The engine can reach Postgres and is ready for traffic.
`GET /v1/meta`	Instance name, version and capabilities.

Back up

Back up two things, together:

The database. For example, nightly:

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml exec -T postgres \
  pg_dump -U outflare outflare | gzip > outflare-$(date +%F).sql.gz

OUTFLARE_SECRET_KEY. Store it in your password manager or secret store. A database backup without the key restores everything except mailbox credentials, which then have to be imported again.

Upgrade

git pull
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml up -d --build

From a release bundle: unpack the new version’s bundle, copy your .env into it, and run docker compose up -d there. Postgres data lives in the outflare_pgdata volume, so it carries over.

Migrations run automatically when the engine starts. They are append-only, so an upgrade never rewrites a migration that already ran. Take a backup before upgrading.

Logs

docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml logs -f engine