Self-hosting with Docker

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Before you start

• A Linux, macOS or Windows host with Docker Engine and the Docker Compose plugin (or Docker Desktop).
• At least 1 vCPU and 1 GB of memory for the app. Allow 2 GB when PostgreSQL runs on the same host.
• Disk space for the database and uploaded pictures. 10 GB is plenty to start.
• For anything beyond a test on your own machine: a domain name and a reverse proxy that serves it over HTTPS. See Deployment examples for Traefik, Caddy and nginx.

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How the pieces fit

• Docker Hub: amruthpillai/reactive-resume
• GitHub Container Registry: ghcr.io/reactive-resume/reactive-resume

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Set up with Docker Compose

mkdir reactive-resume && cd reactive-resume

# The address people will use to reach your instance.
APP_URL="http://localhost:3000"

# "postgres" is the database service name in compose.yml.
POSTGRES_PASSWORD="replace-with-a-database-password"
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:replace-with-a-database-password@postgres:5432/postgres"

# Generate with: openssl rand -hex 32
AUTH_SECRET=""

openssl rand -hex 32

# PowerShell 7 or newer
[Convert]::ToHexString([Security.Cryptography.RandomNumberGenerator]::GetBytes(32)).ToLower()

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:18
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: postgres
      POSTGRES_USER: postgres
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres -d postgres"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 10

  reactive-resume:
    image: amruthpillai/reactive-resume:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    env_file: .env
    volumes:
      - reactive_resume_data:/app/data
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy

volumes:
  postgres_data:
  reactive_resume_data:

docker compose up -d --wait --wait-timeout 180

docker compose ps
docker compose logs --tail=50 reactive-resume

docker compose logs reactive-resume | grep verify-email

• Keep it private. After your own account exists, add FLAG_DISABLE_SIGNUPS="true" to .env and run docker compose up -d. Nobody else can sign up; existing accounts keep working.
• Send real emails. Add the SMTP_* settings from the reference.
• Turn on job search and AI. Connect shared Firecrawl and AI services, or enable personal keys with ENCRYPTION_SECRET. See Job search and AI.
• Serve it over HTTPS. Put a reverse proxy in front and set APP_URL to the public https:// address. See Deployment examples.

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What happens at startup

1. Applies any new database migrations. Several containers starting at once take turns, so only one migrates.
2. Compares the database schema with what the migrations expect. A mismatch is logged; set STRICT_SCHEMA_CHECK=true to stop instead.
3. With local storage, checks that /app/data (or LOCAL_STORAGE_PATH) is writable, and stops if it isn’t.
4. Starts serving on PORT.

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Check the health endpoint

curl http://localhost:3000/api/health

{
  "service": "reactive-resume",
  "version": "6.0.0",
  "status": "healthy",
  "timestamp": "2026-09-30T09:00:00.000Z",
  "uptime": "3600.12s",
  "database": { "status": "healthy", "latencyMs": 2 },
  "storage": {
    "type": "local",
    "status": "healthy",
    "message": "Local filesystem storage is accessible and has read/write permission.",
    "latencyMs": 1
  }
}

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Update your instance

docker compose up -d reactive-resume
docker compose logs -f reactive-resume

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Back up your data

• Database. Dump it with pg_dump:
  docker compose exec -T postgres pg_dump -U postgres -d postgres --format=custom > reactive-resume.dump
  
  Restore into an empty database with pg_restore:
  docker compose exec -T postgres pg_restore -U postgres -d postgres --clean --if-exists < reactive-resume.dump
  
• Uploads. With local storage, copy the contents of the reactive_resume_data volume (or your bind-mounted folder). With S3, turn on bucket versioning or replication in your provider.

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Build from the repository

git clone https://github.com/reactive-resume/reactive-resume.git
cd reactive-resume
cp .env.example .env    # then set APP_URL, AUTH_SECRET and ENCRYPTION_SECRET
docker compose up -d --build

git pull
docker compose up -d --build --no-deps reactive_resume

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Unraid, Synology and other homelab platforms

• Create two containers: one from amruthpillai/reactive-resume:latest and one from postgres:18. Give PostgreSQL its own persistent volume at /var/lib/postgresql.
• Put both containers on the same private network, and use the PostgreSQL container’s name as the host in DATABASE_URL.
• Map the app’s container port 3000 to any free host port.
• Map a persistent folder to /app/data. The app runs as the node user (UID 1000), so that user must be able to write to it.
• Set APP_URL, DATABASE_URL and AUTH_SECRET as environment variables.

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Troubleshooting

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Related pages

• Environment variables: every setting, with defaults.
• Deployment examples: reverse proxies, S3 storage, Redis and local AI.
• Job search and AI: Firecrawl, SearXNG and shared or personal AI providers.
• Self-hosting with Kubernetes: the same setup as Kubernetes manifests.
• Self-hosting on Hostinger: a 1-click deploy of the same stack on a Hostinger VPS.
• Checking service status: the status of the hosted instance.