In-Depth Installation & Development

Option A: Fully Dockerized

The “Batteries Included” Docker Setup

We provide a compose.yaml file that handles everything: it provisions the infrastructure (Postgres, Redis, MinIO, Mailpit), applies database migrations, and boots the Next.js application automatically.

You only need Docker Desktop  installed.

Simply run:

docker compose up -d

No changes to the .env file, and no manual pnpm commands are required.

Option B: Manual / Cloud Setup

Manual Setup (For Active Development)

If you are writing code and need Next.js Hot Module Replacement (HMR), you must run the app manually.

1. Infrastructure:

• PostgreSQL: Spin up a local Postgres instance or use Supabase  or Neon .
• Redis: Run redis-server locally, or use Upstash .
• S3 Storage: Create a bucket. Refer to Storage.
• Email Delivery: Refer to Email Delivery.
• Queue Adapters: Refer to Queue Adapters.
• Push Notifications: Refer to Push Notifications.

2. Environment Variables: Copy .env.example to .env and update it with your connection strings. Refer to the Environment Variables guide for more details.

3. Run the App: Use pnpm to initialize the database and boot the development server.

pnpm --filter @answerflow/db run migrate:deploy

pnpm dev