Self-Hosting Guide

Deploy Autonomy on your own infrastructure for complete data sovereignty.

Why Self-Host?

Self-hosting Autonomy gives you:

Complete data sovereignty — Your signals never leave your infrastructure
Full control — Customize, modify, and extend as needed
Privacy — No third-party access to your documented reality
No platform dependencies — You're not subject to terms of service changes

System Requirements

Minimum

• 1 CPU core
• 1GB RAM
• 10GB storage
• Node.js 18+
• PostgreSQL 14+ or MySQL 8+

Installation Steps

Step 1: Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/rswfire/autonomy.git
cd builtwithautonomy.com

Step 2: Install Dependencies

npm install

Step 3: Set Up Database

Create a PostgreSQL or MySQL database:

# PostgreSQL
createdb autonomy

# MySQL
mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE autonomy;"

Step 4: Configure Environment

Create .env file:

# Database (choose one)
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/autonomy"
# DATABASE_URL="mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/autonomy"

# JWT Secret (generate random string)
JWT_SECRET="your-secure-random-secret-key-here"

# Environment
NODE_ENV="production"

# Port (optional, defaults to 3000)
PORT=3000

Security: Generate a strong JWT_SECRET using:

openssl rand -base64 32

Step 5: Generate Schema & Run Migrations

npm run db:generate-schema
npx prisma generate
npx prisma migrate deploy

Step 6: Create Owner Account

npm run create:owner

Follow the prompts to set up your admin account. This also creates your default private realm.

Step 7: Build & Start

npm run build
npm start

Application will be available at http://localhost:3000

Process Management

Using systemd (Linux)

Create ~/.config/systemd/user/autonomy.service:

[Unit]
Description=Autonomy - Cognitive Infrastructure
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/builtwithautonomy.com
Environment="NODE_ENV=production"
Environment="PORT=3000"
ExecStart=/usr/bin/npm start
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Enable and start:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable autonomy
systemctl --user start autonomy
systemctl --user status autonomy

Using PM2 (Cross-platform)

npm install -g pm2
pm2 start npm --name autonomy -- start
pm2 save
pm2 startup

Reverse Proxy (HTTPS)

Nginx Configuration

Create /etc/nginx/sites-available/autonomy:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    # Redirect to HTTPS
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Enable site:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/autonomy /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

SSL Certificate (Let's Encrypt)

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

Automated Deployment Script

Create scripts/deploy.sh for easy updates:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

DOMAIN="yourdomain.com"
APP_DIR="/path/to/builtwithautonomy.com"
BRANCH="main"

echo "🚀 Deploying $DOMAIN"

cd "$APP_DIR"

# Show current version
echo "📝 Current commit: $(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"

# Fetch and reset
echo "⬇️  Fetching latest changes..."
git fetch origin "$BRANCH"
git reset --hard "origin/$BRANCH"

# Show new version
echo "📝 New commit: $(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"

# Clean build
echo "🧹 Cleaning old build..."
rm -rf node_modules .next

# Install dependencies
echo "📦 Installing dependencies..."
npm ci

# Generate Prisma client
echo "🔄 Generating Prisma client..."
npx prisma generate

# Build
echo "🔨 Building application..."
npm run build

# Verify build
if [ ! -d ".next" ]; then
    echo "❌ Build failed: .next directory missing"
    exit 1
fi

echo "✅ Build successful"

# Restart service
echo "🔄 Restarting service..."
systemctl --user restart autonomy

# Wait for service to start
sleep 2

# Check service status
if systemctl --user is-active --quiet autonomy; then
    echo "✅ Service restarted successfully"
    echo "🌐 Live at: https://$DOMAIN"
else
    echo "❌ Service failed to start"
    echo "📋 Check logs: journalctl --user -u autonomy -n 50"
    exit 1
fi

Make executable and run:

chmod +x scripts/deploy.sh
./scripts/deploy.sh

Backup Strategy

Database Backups

Set up automated daily backups:

# PostgreSQL
pg_dump autonomy > backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

# MySQL
mysqldump autonomy > backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

Add to cron for daily backups at 2 AM:

0 2 * * * pg_dump autonomy > /backups/autonomy_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

Monitoring & Logs

View Logs (systemd)

# Last 50 lines
journalctl --user -u autonomy -n 50

# Follow logs
journalctl --user -u autonomy -f

View Logs (PM2)

# View logs
pm2 logs autonomy

# Monitor
pm2 monit

Troubleshooting

Port already in use

Change PORT in .env file or stop conflicting service

lsof -i :3000

Database connection failed

Verify DATABASE_URL is correct and database is running

Build errors after update

Clean install:

rm -rf node_modules .next && npm install && npm run build

Prisma client not found

Regenerate:

npx prisma generate

Next Steps

Getting Started

Create your first signal after deployment.

Database Schema

Understand the data structure.

Understanding Realms

Your data sovereignty architecture.

Report Issues

Found a problem? Let us know on GitHub.