cd# BuildBoard Backend

Local Development Setup

This guide explains how to set up the database and application locally.

1. Prerequisites

• Docker & Docker Compose
• Python 3.11+

2. Local Database (Docker)

We use a docker-compose.yml file strictly for local development. It spins up a PostgreSQL database so you don't have to install one manually.

Start the database:

docker compose up -d

This starts a Postgres container on port 5432 with the following credentials:

• User: user
• Password: password
• Database: buildboard

3. Environment Configuration

You need a .env file to tell the application how to connect to this local database.

1. Copy the example configuration:

   cp .env.example .env

2. Verify your .env file. For local development, it MUST contain this exact connection string:

   DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@127.0.0.1:5432/buildboard

   If you are running the app inside Docker as well (not just the DB), you might need to use host.docker.internal instead of localhost.

4. Running the App

<<<<<<< HEAD

Create and activate a virtual environment:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

1eb76e0 (feat: Add all features (handle system, GitHub integration, analytics, migrations, cleanup pycache)) Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Start the server (with hot-reload):

uvicorn app.main:app --reload

The app will automatically migrate the database schema upon startup.

---

Production vs. Local

There is a strict separation between local dev and production:

• Local: Uses docker-compose.yml to run a throwaway Postgres container. You control the variables via .env.
• Production (Coolify):
  • Uses the Dockerfile to build the application image.
  • The Database is managed by Coolify (or an external provider).
  • Environment variables (like DATABASE_URL) are injected by Coolify's dashboard, NOT from the .env file.
  • Do NOT use the docker-compose.yml for production deployment.