# Self-hosting

> Run the InstaCloud runtime on your own machine: one daemon over Docker, the same CLI, the same URL shape.

InstaCloud's runtime is open source. [InstaCloud OSS](https://github.com/InsForge/instacloud-oss) is one
daemon that drives your Docker and answers the same API the hosted platform answers, so the same
`insta` CLI, the same MCP server and the same agent skills work against it.

## What you get

- One daemon (`instad`) over Docker: a Postgres container per branch, an S3-compatible bucket per
  storage service, your app containers, managed Redis, MySQL and MongoDB.
- The cloud's API surface: `insta status`, `project`, `services`, `deploy`, `branch`, `secrets`,
  `db`, `template`, `compute`, `metrics`, `logs`, `events`, `approvals`, plus the governance policy
  routes the dashboard drives (the CLI has no `policy` command, here or on the cloud).
- The cloud's URL shape: `https://<group>-<project>-<branch>.<your-domain>` for apps and
  `pg-<name>-<project>-<branch>.<your-domain>:5432` for databases.
- Serverless behaviour on one box: idle services sleep, traffic wakes them. See [sleep and
  wake](https://www.instacloud.com/docs/self-hosting/sleep).
- Branches that fork the disk: `insta branch create` reflink-copies a sleeping database in about
  a second at any size, and streams an awake one (or any, without reflinks) in time proportional
  to its size. See [branching](https://www.instacloud.com/docs/self-hosting/branching).
- The bundled template catalog served through the cloud's `/templates` routes, so
  `insta template list` works with no internet access. Each template declares the CPU
  architectures its image is published for, and a deploy this box cannot run is refused up front.
- The dashboard, served by the daemon itself and laid out like the hosted console: a Service
  canvas, Quick Start, Observability, Secrets, Branches and Settings, and each service's own
  detail with Metrics, Variables, Runtime Logs and Settings, plus a Database tab for Postgres, a
  Volume tab for apps, and Connect on every database.

Not there yet: billing and usage metering, organizations and members, multi-node scheduling, and
the backups API (`pg_dump` plus a tar of the data directory is the documented path until it
ships). Those routes answer `501` with guidance that names the alternative rather than pretending
to work. [COMPATIBILITY.md](https://github.com/InsForge/instacloud-oss/blob/main/COMPATIBILITY.md) is
the command-by-command list.

## Two ways to run it

| Mode | Where | Address | Auth | Data dir | Use it for |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Server | a VPS | `https://api.<domain>` and `https://console.<domain>` | one admin plus `insta_` tokens | `/var/lib/instacloud` | a shared environment, agents, CI, anything with a URL you send to someone |
| Local | your laptop | `http://127.0.0.1:8080` and `*.localhost` names | none, `user: local` | `~/.insta-oss` | development on the daemon itself, offline work, a throwaway stack |

Server mode is the one-liner on the [install](https://www.instacloud.com/docs/self-hosting/install) page. Local mode is the clone
and `npm run dev` on the same page.

## The pages

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Install" icon="download" href="https://www.instacloud.com/docs/self-hosting/install">
    The one-liner, what it writes, the firewall and Docker settings it changes, and local mode.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Set up access" icon="key" href="https://www.instacloud.com/docs/self-hosting/setup">
    The admin account, API tokens, `insta login --api-key`, MCP, and a lost password.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Domains and TLS" icon="globe" href="https://www.instacloud.com/docs/self-hosting/domains">
    Every hostname the daemon mints, your own domain, certificates, and public database ports.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Sleep and wake" icon="moon" href="https://www.instacloud.com/docs/self-hosting/sleep">
    What counts as activity, when a service sleeps, how it wakes, always-on, and the knobs.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Branching" icon="code-branch" href="https://www.instacloud.com/docs/self-hosting/branching">
    How a branch forks the database files and volumes, and where the data lives.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Upgrade and backups" icon="arrows-rotate" href="https://www.instacloud.com/docs/self-hosting/upgrade">
    Re-run the installer, pin a version, roll back, and back up until the API ships.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>