Docker quickstart

A production-ready Docker image packages the whole platform: persistent storage, team auth and model runners. Run it anywhere that runs a container: Docker Compose on a VPS, Railway, Fly.io, Render, Coolify or bare-metal Linux.

One-click deployCopy Anchor Link

On any Linux VPS (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr, Linode, EC2 or your own hardware), as root:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dharmeshgurnani/CodeOtter/main/bin/install.sh | bash
# With HTTPS: point a DNS A record at the server first
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dharmeshgurnani/CodeOtter/main/bin/install.sh | CODEOTTER_DOMAIN=review.example.com bash

The script installs Docker, writes /opt/codeotter/.env with a generated PocketBase password, and starts CodeOtter with Watchtower updates. With CODEOTTER_DOMAIN it also runs Caddy with a Let's Encrypt certificate and keeps ports 4747 and 8090 on loopback. Re-running it keeps .env. The same line works as cloud-init user data when you create the server.

• Azure creates an Ubuntu VM with HTTPS on https://<label>.<region>.cloudapp.azure.com. Only an SSH public key is required.
• Render needs a paid instance type, because only paid instances keep a disk. Render does not follow :latest, so redeploy to update.
• Sign in right after deploying: the first account becomes the owner.

The Compose fileCopy Anchor Link

docker-compose.yml ships in the repository root. Two services share the pb_data named volume where PocketBase stores auth and persistent state:

services:
  codeotter:
    image: ghcr.io/dharmeshgurnani/codeotter:latest
    ports:
      - "4747:4747"
      - "127.0.0.1:8090:8090"
    env_file: .env
    volumes:
      - pb_data:/app/pb_data
    restart: unless-stopped

  watchtower:
    image: nickfedor/watchtower:latest
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    environment:
      WATCHTOWER_LABEL_ENABLE: "true"
      WATCHTOWER_CLEANUP: "true"
      WATCHTOWER_POLL_INTERVAL: "3600"
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  pb_data:

cp .env.example .env       # Set GH_TOKEN and optional model keys
docker compose up -d       # Dashboard on http://localhost:4747

Environment variablesCopy Anchor Link

Updates and rollbackCopy Anchor Link

Every release tag publishes ghcr.io/dharmeshgurnani/codeotter as :latest, :X.Y.Z and :X.Y, for amd64 and arm64. Watchtower checks hourly, pulls a newer image and restarts only containers labelled com.centurylinklabs.watchtower.enable=true. pb_data keeps its contents and PocketBase applies new migrations on start.

• Hold back: pin image: ghcr.io/dharmeshgurnani/codeotter:0.6 (patch releases only) or :0.6.0 (frozen).
• Roll back: set image: to the tag you want and run docker compose up -d. PocketBase migrates forward only; the volume is untouched.
• Update by hand: delete the watchtower service, then run docker compose pull && docker compose up -d.
• Owners see vX.Y.Z available in the sidebar when a newer release exists (checked every 6 hours).

Build and run standaloneCopy Anchor Link

docker build -t codeotter .
docker run -d -p 4747:4747 -p 8090:8090 --env-file .env -v codeotter-data:/app/pb_data codeotter

Mount /app/pb_data as a volume to keep reviews, settings and downloaded local models across upgrades.

After deployCopy Anchor Link

Open http://<host>:4747 and sign in. The first account becomes the owner; invite everyone else from Settings → Workspace → Manage accounts. See Accounts and roles.