SurfSense DocsDocker Compose Development
Building SurfSense from source using docker-compose.dev.yml
If you're contributing to SurfSense and want to build from source, use docker-compose.dev.yml instead:
cd SurfSense/docker
docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up --buildThis file builds the backend and frontend from your local source code (instead of pulling prebuilt images) and includes pgAdmin for database inspection at http://localhost:5050. Use the production docker-compose.yml for all other cases.
Dev-Only Environment Variables
The following .env variables are only used by the dev compose file (they have no effect on the production docker-compose.yml):
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
PGADMIN_PORT | pgAdmin web UI port | 5050 |
PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL | pgAdmin login email | admin@surfsense.com |
PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD | pgAdmin login password | surfsense |
REDIS_PORT | Exposed Redis port (internal-only in prod) | 6379 |
NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_AUTH_TYPE | Frontend build arg for auth type | LOCAL |
NEXT_PUBLIC_ETL_SERVICE | Frontend build arg for ETL service | DOCLING |
NEXT_PUBLIC_DEPLOYMENT_MODE | Frontend build arg for deployment mode | self-hosted |
NEXT_PUBLIC_ELECTRIC_AUTH_MODE | Frontend build arg for Electric auth | insecure |
In the production compose file, the NEXT_PUBLIC_* frontend variables are automatically derived from AUTH_TYPE, ETL_SERVICE, and the port settings. In the dev compose file, they are passed as build args since the frontend is built from source.