Self-Hosting

What you'll need

• Convex CLI (npm i -g convex)
• Access to secrets for the features you want: Groq (AI), Kernel (screenshots), Resend (email), Polar (billing)

Quickstart (local)

1. Clone the repo and install dependencies:

bun install

2. Provision Convex + Better Auth defaults:

bun run predev

This creates a dev deployment and prints the CONVEX_SITE_URL you will reuse in client env files.

3. Create env files using the values below:

   • ./.env.local (web + backend)
   • mobile/.env.local
   • extension/.env.local

4. Start the stack:

bun run dev

Production basics

• Point SITE_URL and CONVEX_SITE_URL to your public domain.
• Add email (RESEND_API_KEY) and billing (Polar) keys if you need those features.
• Build and serve:

bun run build
bun run start

Environment settings

Add these to your env files before running locally or deploying.

Backend (.env.local)

SITE_URL=http://localhost:3000
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=your-secret               # Better Auth security
KERNEL_API_KEY=token                         # Kernel Browser
GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_...                         # AI processing
POLAR_ACCESS_TOKEN=token                     # Billing
POLAR_ORGANIZATION_TOKEN=token               # Polar organization
POLAR_SERVER=sandbox                         # sandbox|production
POLAR_WEBHOOK_SECRET=secret                  # Polar webhooks
RESEND_API_KEY=token                         # Email service

Web (./.env.local)

CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY=
NEXT_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL=https://deployment.convex.cloud
NEXT_PUBLIC_CONVEX_SITE_URL=https://deployment.convex.site

Mobile (mobile/.env.local)

EXPO_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL=https://deployment.convex.cloud
EXPO_PUBLIC_CONVEX_SITE_URL=https://deployment.convex.site

Extension (extension/.env.local)

VITE_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL=https://deployment.convex.cloud
VITE_PUBLIC_CONVEX_SITE_URL=https://deployment.convex.site

Where to get the values

• Convex: run bun run predev; it creates the deployment and prints both URLs. Update them when you promote to production.
• Better Auth: generate a secret once with npx convex env set BETTER_AUTH_SECRET $(openssl rand -base64 32). Keep SITE_URL (Next.js + Convex) and CONVEX_SITE_URL (Convex site endpoint) in sync with your domain.
• Optional features: set GROQ_API_KEY for AI, KERNEL_API_KEY for link previews, Polar keys for billing, and RESEND_API_KEY for email.