Deploy Sovrium with Docker Compose and PostgreSQL

You want the app and its PostgreSQL database to come up together as one stack, with the database wired in by a single DATABASE_URL.

Define the stack

# compose.yaml
services:
  db:
    image: postgres:17
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: sovrium
      POSTGRES_DB: sovrium
    volumes: ['db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data']
  app:
    image: ghcr.io/sovrium/sovrium:latest
    command: start /app/app.ts
    depends_on: [db]
    ports: ['3000:3000']
    volumes: ['./app.ts:/app/app.ts:ro']
    environment:
      DATABASE_URL: postgres://postgres:sovrium@db:5432/sovrium
      AUTH_SECRET: change-me-to-32-byte-hex
      SOVRIUM_ENCRYPTION_KEY: change-me-to-32-byte-hex
      BASE_URL: http://localhost:3000
volumes:
  db-data:

Run and verify

docker compose up -d
curl -fsS http://localhost:3000/ >/dev/null && echo "up"

Because DATABASE_URL is set, Sovrium runs on Postgres and applies its schema on boot.

Next

• Database Infrastructure — the Postgres engine Sovrium targets.
• Schema Migrations — how the schema evolves on each boot.
• Security Hardening — replace the placeholder secrets before production.