Stack Setup | Self-Host | GestaltMind Docs

1. Pull the image set

The Dreamphase stack uses two container images: gestaltmind/dreamphase-selfhost and postgres:16-alpine. Pull them before bringing the stack up so you can verify the download succeeds independently of startup.

shell

# Pull all images defined in your compose file
docker compose pull

2. Create your docker-compose.yml

Create a working directory for the stack and save the following file as docker-compose.yml. The Dreamphase server serves both the HTTP API and the bundled web UI on the same port, so the stack only needs two services: dreamphase and postgres.

yaml

services:
  # Dreamphase Server - Go backend with embedded web UI
  dreamphase:
    image: gestaltmind/dreamphase-selfhost:latest
    ports:
      - "${API_PORT:-8543}:8080"
    environment:
      # IMPORTANT: Change API_KEY in production!
      API_KEY: "${API_KEY:-changeme}"
      DATABASE_URL: "postgres://${POSTGRES_USER:-dreamer}:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-secret}@postgres:5432/${POSTGRES_DB:-dreamphase}?sslmode=disable"
      PORT: 8080
      ENVIRONMENT: "${ENVIRONMENT:-production}"
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy
    restart: unless-stopped

  # Database - PostgreSQL
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB:-dreamphase}
      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER:-dreamer}
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-secret}
      PGDATA: /var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata
    volumes:
      - pg_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    ports:
      - "${POSTGRES_PORT:-5432}:5432"
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${POSTGRES_USER:-dreamer} -d ${POSTGRES_DB:-dreamphase}"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

volumes:
  pg_data:

Named volumes keep your data safe

The volumes block at the bottom of the file tells Docker to manage the data directories as named volumes. They survive container restarts and docker compose down. Use docker compose down -v only if you want to wipe the data completely.

3. Set environment variables

Create a .env file in the same directory as your docker-compose.yml. This file holds credentials and configuration values that both containers share. See the Configuration page for the full variable reference.

4. Start the stack

With the compose file and .env in place, bring both containers up in detached mode:

shell

docker compose up -d

5. Verify the setup

Check that both services are running and healthy:

shell

# Show the status of all services
docker compose ps

# Follow live logs across all containers
docker compose logs -f

Both services (dreamphase, postgres) should show a running state. If either container exits immediately, check the logs with docker compose logs <service> and refer to the Troubleshooting page.