Campus is a full-stack application that combines SvelteKit (frontend/API) with PocketBase (database/backend) in a single Docker container. This architecture uses Caddy as a reverse proxy to route traffic between the services.
Architecture
The deployment consists of three services running in a single container:
- SvelteKit (Port 3000) - Frontend application and custom API routes
- PocketBase (Port 8090) - Database, authentication, and native API
- Caddy (Port 8080) - Reverse proxy that routes requests
Request Routing
Caddy handles all incoming requests and routes them based on path:
/api/collections/*, /api/realtime, /api/files/*, /api/admins/*, /api/settings/*, /api/logs/*, /api/backups/*, /api/health → PocketBase/_/* (Admin UI) → PocketBase- Everything else → SvelteKit
Deployment Options
Docker Deployment (Recommended)
The recommended way to deploy Campus is using the provided multi-stage Dockerfile. This approach:
- Bundles all services in a single container
- Uses Alpine Linux for minimal image size
- Includes proper process management with tini
- Supports multiple architectures (amd64, arm64)
See the Docker Deployment guide for details.
Campus has been tested and works well on:
- Railway - Automatic deployments from GitHub
- Fly.io - Global edge deployment
- Any Docker host - VPS, cloud instances, on-premise
Requirements
System Requirements
- Docker 20.10 or newer (for containerized deployment)
- Node.js 22+ (for local development)
- 2GB RAM minimum (4GB recommended)
- 1GB disk space (plus space for uploaded media)
Environment Variables
Properly configure environment variables before deploying. At minimum, you should review the PocketBase URL configuration.
Persistent Storage
The /pb_data directory contains your database and uploaded files. You MUST mount this as a persistent volume or your data will be lost when the container restarts.
docker run -v /path/to/persistent/storage:/pb_data campus:latest
Quick Start
Build the Docker Image
cd ~/workspace/source
docker build -t campus:latest .
Run the Container
docker run -d \
-p 8080:8080 \
-v $(pwd)/pb_data:/pb_data \
-e PORT=8080 \
campus:latest
http://localhost:8080.
Access PocketBase Admin
The PocketBase admin interface is available at http://localhost:8080/_/.
On first launch, you’ll be prompted to create an admin account.
Production Considerations
Security
- Change default admin credentials immediately after first deployment
- Use HTTPS in production (most platforms handle this automatically)
- Review and configure authentication settings in PocketBase admin
- Set appropriate CORS policies if needed
Backups
Regularly backup the /pb_data directory. This contains your entire database and all uploaded files.
/api/backups/*.
Monitoring
Health check endpoint: http://your-domain.com/api/health
This endpoint returns PocketBase health status and can be used for uptime monitoring.
- PocketBase uses SQLite, which performs well for most use cases
- For high-traffic deployments, consider using a CDN for static assets
- Monitor disk I/O as SQLite performance depends on disk speed
- Consider vertical scaling (more CPU/RAM) rather than horizontal scaling
Next Steps