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For developers

Run Volath from source

For developers: the commands to install the dependencies, build and run Volath from its source folder, the development mode, and the settings of the instance.

Download the installer insteadJump to the commands

Requirements

What you need

  • Node.js and npm

    Node.js 20 or newer and npm. Plugin code needs Node 22 or newer to run in its sandbox.

  • Git

    Git, available in PATH.

  • An AI provider and a Git host token

    The same as the installed app: a CLI or an API key, and a token for your Git host.

  • Playwright browsers (optional)

    Only for live testing from source. Install them with npx playwright install chromium.

  • MySQL or MariaDB (optional)

    Only if you do not want the default SQLite. Create an empty database on MySQL 8 or later or on MariaDB. Existing SQLite data is not moved over.

Commands

Run these commands from the Volath folder

In order, once. Each block has a copy button.

  1. Install the dependencies

    Install the frontend and the backend dependencies.

    npm install
npm --prefix backend install

  2. Build and start

    This builds the app, then runs the backend on http://localhost:3000 and the frontend on http://localhost:4173.

    npm start

  3. Development mode (optional)

    To work on the code, run the backend and the frontend in watch mode. The frontend is then at http://localhost:5173.

    npm run start:dev

  4. Change the address or the port (optional)

    Copy the example environment file and edit the host and the port.

    cp backend/.env.example backend/.env

Configuration

The address, the plugins and the database

The name, the logo and the icon of the app are fixed. The instance settings go in backend/.env: the address and the port of the backend, the plugin marketplace and sandbox, and an optional MySQL or MariaDB database. Everything else is edited in the app.

Variables of the instance .env file
VariablePurpose
APP_HOSTPublic address of the backend
PORTBackend port (default 3000)
VOLATH_MARKETPLACE_URLAnother folder to read the plugin marketplace from
VOLATH_PLUGIN_SANDBOXSet to off to run plugin code without the Node sandbox (not recommended)
VOLATH_DB_TYPEmysql or mariadb. Leave it unset for SQLite
VOLATH_DB_HOSTDatabase server address (default localhost)
VOLATH_DB_PORTDatabase server port (default 3306)
VOLATH_DB_USERDatabase user (default root)
VOLATH_DB_PASSWORDDatabase password
VOLATH_DB_NAMEDatabase name (default volath)

The frontend finds the backend at http://localhost:3000. To use another address, set VITE_API_URL when starting Vite.

From source, the data lives in backend/data (database.db, backups and screenshots). To start again from scratch, stop the backend and run npm run reset, then add -- --yes to really delete it. It cannot be undone.

Rather just use it?

It runs on your own machine. Your code, tickets and settings live in a local SQLite database, or in your own MySQL or MariaDB.

Download VolathRead the setup guide