Self-hosted Supabase

Step-by-step guide to set up Roost with your own self-hosted Supabase instance (Community Edition).

Prerequisites

A server/VPS sized for Supabase and Roost; the bundled staging stack was tested with 4GB RAM and 2 CPU cores
Docker and Docker Compose installed
A domain name (optional but recommended)
Node.js 22+ (for the Roost app)

Step 1: Set Up Self-Hosted Supabase

Option A: Using the Official Docker Setup

# Clone the Supabase repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/supabase/supabase
cd supabase/docker

# Copy the example env file
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and set these important values:

# REQUIRED: Change these from defaults!
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your-strong-db-password
JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-token-at-least-32-chars
ANON_KEY=generate-this-using-jwt-secret
SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=generate-this-using-jwt-secret
DASHBOARD_USERNAME=admin
DASHBOARD_PASSWORD=your-dashboard-password

# Your domain (or IP)
SITE_URL=https://supabase.your-domain.com
API_EXTERNAL_URL=https://supabase.your-domain.com

Generate JWT Keys

Use the Supabase JWT generator or manually create them:

# Install jwt-cli or use the online tool at:
# https://supabase.com/docs/guides/self-hosting/docker#generate-api-keys

# The anon key needs these claims:
# { "role": "anon", "iss": "supabase", "iat": <now>, "exp": <10 years from now> }

# The service_role key needs:
# { "role": "service_role", "iss": "supabase", "iat": <now>, "exp": <10 years from now> }

Start Supabase

docker compose up -d

Verify it’s running:

# Check all services are healthy
docker compose ps

# Access the dashboard
# http://your-server-ip:8000 (or your configured domain)

Option B: Using Supabase CLI (Local Dev)

# Run from the Roost repository (the Supabase CLI is a development dependency)
npm install
npx supabase init
npx supabase start

This gives you a local Supabase at http://localhost:54321 with auto-generated keys printed in the terminal.

Step 2: Note Your Credentials

After setup, you’ll need:

Value	Where to Find
Supabase URL	Your server URL (e.g., `http://your-ip:8000` or `https://supabase.your-domain.com`)
Anon Key	From `.env` file or `supabase status` output
Service Role Key	From `.env` file or `supabase status` output
Database Password	The `POSTGRES_PASSWORD` you set

Step 3: Install the Database Schema

Option A: Direct Database Connection

# From the Roost repository, load the consolidated fresh-install schema
psql "postgresql://postgres:your-password@your-server-ip:5432/postgres" \
  -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -f schema.sql

Option B: Via Supabase Dashboard

Open your self-hosted Supabase dashboard
Go to SQL Editor
Paste and run schema.sql once

The consolidated schema is for fresh installations. Back up and migrate an existing database separately rather than rerunning the complete file.

Step 4: Configure Roost

Frontend (.env.local)

# Database Provider — use supabase-selfhosted
VITE_DB_PROVIDER=supabase-selfhosted

# Point to YOUR Supabase instance
VITE_SUPABASE_URL=http://your-server-ip:8000
VITE_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=your-anon-key

# App
VITE_APP_NAME="Your Community Name"
VITE_APP_URL=http://localhost:5000
VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:3000

Backend (server/.env)

NODE_ENV=development
PORT=3000

DB_PROVIDER=supabase-selfhosted
SUPABASE_URL=http://your-server-ip:8000
SUPABASE_SECRET_KEY=your-service-role-key

# Direct DB access (for backups)
SUPABASE_DB_PASSWORD=your-postgres-password
DB_HOST=your-server-ip
DB_PORT=5432

ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:5000
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:5000

Step 5: Install and Run

# Install dependencies
npm install
cd server && npm install && cd ..

# Start development
npm run dev:all

Step 6: Enable Realtime

Self-hosted Supabase requires explicit replication setup:

Open your Supabase dashboard
Go to Database > Replication
Enable replication for these tables:
- posts
- comments
- messages
- notifications
- reactions
- live_session_messages

Step 7: Configure Email (Supabase Auth)

Self-hosted Supabase uses its own SMTP config for auth emails (confirmations, password resets):

Edit your Supabase .env:

SMTP_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@your-domain.com
SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=your-email@gmail.com
SMTP_PASS=your-app-password
SMTP_SENDER_NAME=Your Community

Restart Supabase after changes:

docker compose restart

Production Considerations

Reverse Proxy (nginx/Traefik)

Set up SSL and proxy Supabase behind your domain:

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name supabase.your-domain.com;

    ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:8000;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }
}

Backups

Set up automated PostgreSQL backups:

# Add to crontab
0 2 * * * pg_dump -h localhost -U postgres roost > /backups/roost_$(date +\%Y\%m\%d).sql

Resource Requirements

Users	RAM	CPU	Disk
< 100	2GB	2 cores	20GB
100-1K	4GB	4 cores	50GB
1K-10K	8GB	4 cores	100GB

Troubleshooting

Services not starting

docker compose logs -f
# Check for port conflicts, missing env vars