Deployment

This guide walks you through putting Observer on a server where your team can use it. You don’t need deep technical knowledge — if you can SSH into a server and run a few commands, you can do this.

Docker (recommended)#

This is the simplest path. Observer ships as a single Docker image with the web interface already baked in — there’s nothing extra to install or configure on the frontend side.

What you need#

• A server with Docker and Docker Compose installed
• A domain name pointed at your server (for HTTPS)

Step 1: Generate signing keys#

Observer uses RSA keys to sign login tokens. Run these commands on your server to create them:

mkdir -p keys
openssl genrsa -out keys/jwt_rsa 4096
openssl rsa -in keys/jwt_rsa -pubout -out keys/jwt_rsa.pub

Keep these keys safe. If you lose them, everyone will need to log in again.

Step 2: Configure your environment#

Copy the example environment file and edit it for your setup:

cp .env.example .env

The most important variables:

See Environment Variables for the full list.

Step 3: Start Observer#

docker compose up -d

This starts PostgreSQL, Redis, and Observer. The database schema is created automatically on first launch — no manual migration step needed.

Step 4: Verify it’s running#

curl http://localhost:9000/health

You should see:

{ "status": "healthy", "timestamp": "..." }

If you see this, Observer is ready. Open your domain in a browser to access the web interface.

Without Docker (VPS / bare metal)#

If you prefer to run Observer directly, build the binary:

CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -tags production -ldflags="-s -w" -o observer ./cmd/observer

The -tags production flag embeds the web interface into the binary. You get a single file you can copy anywhere.

Run it:

./observer serve --host 0.0.0.0

You’ll need PostgreSQL and Redis running separately. Point DATABASE_DSN and REDIS_URL to them.

Setting up HTTPS#

You should always run Observer behind a reverse proxy that handles HTTPS. This keeps login credentials and personal data encrypted in transit.

Caddy is the easiest option — it handles certificates automatically:

observer.yourorg.org {
    reverse_proxy localhost:9000
}

If you use Nginx or another proxy, make sure to set:

• COOKIE_SECURE=true in your environment
• CORS_ORIGINS to your actual domain (e.g. https://observer.yourorg.org)