Self-hosting Dispatch

// ecosystem.config.js — at the repo root
module.exports = {
  apps: [
    {
      name: "api-dispatch",
      cwd: "./dispatch-backend",
      script: "npm",
      args: "start",
      instances: 1,          // one box needs only one; safe to scale (see below)
      exec_mode: "fork",
      autorestart: true,
      env: { NODE_ENV: "production" },
    },
    {
      name: "dispatch-web",
      cwd: "./dispatch-web",
      script: "npm",
      args: "start",
      instances: 1,
      exec_mode: "fork",
      autorestart: true,
      env: { NODE_ENV: "production" },
    },
  ],
};

npm install -g pm2
 
pm2 start ecosystem.config.js
pm2 save        # persist the process list
pm2 startup     # then run the command it prints — survives reboots
 
pm2 status      # both apps should read "online"
pm2 logs api-dispatch

# /etc/nginx/sites-available/dispatch
# One domain, two upstreams: /api/* goes to the API, the rest to the
# dashboard. Longest-prefix match means the /api/ block always wins.
 
upstream dispatch_web { server 127.0.0.1:3000; }
upstream dispatch_api { server 127.0.0.1:4000; }
 
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name dispatch.example.com;
 
    # the API serves everything under /api (routes live at /api/v1/...)
    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://dispatch_api;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
 
    # everything else is the dashboard
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://dispatch_web;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/dispatch /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/dispatch
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx
 
# TLS — certbot rewrites the config for HTTPS
sudo certbot --nginx -d dispatch.example.com

# 1 · database
mysql -u root -e "CREATE DATABASE dispatch"
 
# 2 · the API — terminal one
cd dispatch-backend
npm install                 # also runs prisma generate
cp .env.example .env        # point DATABASE_URL at your MySQL, set GMAIL_*
npx prisma migrate dev
npm run dev                 # http://localhost:4000, hot-reloads
 
# 3 · the dashboard — terminal two
cd dispatch-web
npm install
echo "NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://localhost:4000" > .env.local
npm run dev                 # http://localhost:3000

cd dispatch
git pull
 
# the API
cd dispatch-backend
npm install
npx prisma migrate deploy   # applies any new migrations; safe to re-run
npm run build
 
# the dashboard
cd ../dispatch-web
npm install
npm run build
 
# restart both
pm2 restart api-dispatch dispatch-web