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Overview

What self-hosting Proliferate means, and whether you should.

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Proliferate is open source and fully self-hostable. Self-hosting means running the server — the API, database, and web app — yourself. Your team signs in at its public URL, and the desktop app connects to the same URL when they need local repositories.

Most teams should use the hosted service. Self-host when you have a reason: compliance, data locality, or a network boundary you cannot cross.

Choose your path#

Just trying Proliferate?
You don't need a server. Download the desktop app and everything runs on your machine.
Want to develop locally?
Read the docs in Github and we'll get you going in no time.
Self-host for your team
Stand up the server in about 15 minutes, then open its URL in a browser.
Operate & update
One-command updates, version pinning, troubleshooting, and sizing for day-2 operations.

Deploying on a cloud provider? Use the AWS launch stack (one command with launch-stack.sh), or bring Docker to any server (one command with install.sh).

The pieces#

A self-hosted deployment is one server, reachable at one public URL, with an optional desktop app and optional add-ons.

Proliferate server (required)
The Docker Compose stack: API, Postgres, migrations, Caddy for automatic HTTPS, and the compiled Web app baked into the server image.
Desktop app (optional, required for local work)
The official signed app, connected to your server from the sign-in screen. Needed for local repositories and local AnyHarness runtimes.
Cloud sandboxes (add-on, coming soon)
Managed cloud workspaces for your organization. Being re-implemented; nothing to configure today.
Model gateway (add-on)
A LiteLLM proxy you run for centralized model credentials and budgets. Without it, users bring their own agent subscriptions.

The base install gives you email-and-password sign-in, one shared organization, invitations, and workspaces that run on each user's machine. Nothing on first run depends on an add-on. GitHub and Google sign-in are optional layers on top.

Not in self-hosting yet#

  • Scheduled background jobs. The stack ships no worker tier.
  • Full provider sign-in on the web app (GitHub, Google, OIDC, SAML) is still being finished; the authentication pages say what each provider supports today.
  • proliferate://connect deep links, and switching servers without signing out. Desktops connect from the sign-in screen or a one-line config file.
  • Cloud sandboxes.

How updates work#

Note

Updating is one command on the server (./update.sh): pull the new image, run migrations, restart. The server reports its versions at GET /meta, and your users' desktop apps follow the version the server pins, so updating the server updates the whole fleet. See Updates & versioning.

Telemetry#

Self-hosted servers run with PROLIFERATE_TELEMETRY_MODE=self_managed: anonymous, first-party telemetry only, with no third-party vendors. Set PROLIFERATE_ANONYMOUS_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 for zero telemetry. See Telemetry & privacy.