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The Restaurante API ships with a Docker Compose setup that starts both the PostgreSQL 17 database and the NestJS API together. You do not need to install PostgreSQL or Node.js on your machine — Docker handles everything.

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Prerequisites

  • Docker Desktop (includes Docker Compose)
  • A .env file in the project root (copy .env.example to get started)
The first build takes a few minutes while Docker pulls the base images and installs npm packages inside the container. Subsequent starts are much faster.

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First-time setup

1

Copy the environment file

Create your local .env from the example template:
cp .env.example .env
Open .env and set DATABASE_URL, JWT_SECRET, and any other required values. See Environment variables for the full reference.
2

Start the containers

Build the images and start PostgreSQL and the API in the foreground:
npm run dev
This runs docker compose up --build. You will see log output from both the db and api services. When you see SERVER RUNNING SUCCESSFULLY, the API is ready.To start in detached mode (background) instead:
npm run docker:up:d
3

Run migrations and seed data

Apply the Drizzle ORM migrations and load the initial seed data into the running container:
npm run docker:migrate
npm run docker:seed
Or run reset, migrate, and seed all at once:
npm run docker:fresh
4

Verify the API is running

The API listens on port 3000 by default. Open the Swagger UI in your browser:
http://localhost:3000/api
Or make a quick health check with curl:
curl http://localhost:3000/api/auth/login \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"nombre_usuario": "admin", "contrasena": "Admin123!"}'

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Docker commands reference

# Start PostgreSQL + API, rebuild on change
npm run dev
# alias: npm run docker:up

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Database commands inside Docker

CommandWhat it does
npm run docker:migrateRun pending Drizzle migrations inside the api container
npm run docker:seedLoad initial seed data inside the api container
npm run docker:freshReset the database, run migrations, and seed — all in one step

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Logs and shell access

# Follow live log output from the api service
npm run docker:logs

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Destroy all data

npm run docker:destroy runs docker compose down -v, which removes all Docker volumes. This permanently deletes your PostgreSQL data. You will need to re-run migrations and seed after this command.
npm run docker:destroy

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Deploying to Railway

The repository includes a railway.json that configures the build and deploy pipeline for Railway. 
{
  "build": {
    "builder": "RAILPACK",
    "buildCommand": "npm run build"
  },
  "deploy": {
    "startCommand": "node dist/main",
    "numReplicas": 1,
    "restartPolicyType": "ON_FAILURE",
    "restartPolicyMaxRetries": 10
  }
}
To deploy on Railway:
  1. Connect your GitHub repository in the Railway dashboard.
  2. Add a PostgreSQL plugin and copy the DATABASE_URL it provides into your service’s environment variables.
  3. Set JWT_SECRET and any other required variables in the Railway environment settings.
  4. Railway detects railway.json automatically and runs npm run build followed by node dist/main.
Set PORT in Railway’s environment variables if you need a specific port. The API reads process.env.PORT and defaults to 3000.

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