Docker Setup

This guide will help you get Arcadia running quickly using Docker Compose.

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• Git (to clone the repository)

Quick Setup

1. Set up environment files:

   # Copy backend api environment file
   cp backend/api/.env.docker backend/api/.env
   
   # Copy frontend environment file
   cp frontend/.env.docker frontend/.env
   

2. Start all services:

   docker compose --env-file backend/api/.env up -d
   

   Note: the --env-file option is necessary as it will make the REDIS_PASSWORD environment variable available before the container is ran (and not only for the container itself, it is not the same as the compose attribute env_file).

   This command will:

   • Build the backend and frontend images
   • Start PostgreSQL database
   • Run database migrations automatically
   • Start the backend API server
   • Start the frontend development server

3. Access the application:

   • Frontend: http://localhost:5137
   • Backend API: http://localhost:8080

Individual Service Management

If you prefer to start services individually:

Database Only

docker compose up db -d

Redis Only

docker compose --env-file backend/api/.env up redis -d

Backend Api Only

docker compose up backend -d

Frontend Only

docker compose up frontend -d

Development Features

Auto-rebuild with Compose Watch

For development, you can use Compose Watch to automatically rebuild when source code changes:

docker compose up --watch

Or when running attached (without -d), press W to enable watch mode.

Adding Test Data

You can optionally add "fake" data (fixtures) to the database for development:

docker exec -i arcadia_db psql -U arcadia -d arcadia < backend/storage/migrations/fixtures/fixtures.sql

The default test user is picolo with password test.

Exporting Test Data

If you added some new test data and wish to include it in your commit, you can export it like so:

docker exec -i arcadia_db pg_dump -U arcadia -d arcadia --data-only --inserts > backend/storage/migrations/fixtures/fixtures.sql && sed -i '/SELECT pg_catalog.set_config(\x27search_path\x27, \x27\x27, false);/d' migrations/fixtures/fixtures.sql

1 line generated by pgdump must be removed as it prevents the collage_entry fixtures from being inserted (the trigger somehow can't be interprted). If someone has an explanation, please let us know/open a PR!

Manual Database Setup (if needed)

Arcadia automatically runs migrations on launch, but if you need to manually set up the database:

cargo install sqlx-cli
cargo sqlx database setup

Troubleshooting

• If services fail to start, check logs with: docker compose logs [service-name]
• To rebuild images: docker compose build
• To reset everything: docker compose down -v && docker compose up -d