multica/SELF_HOSTING.md

Self-Hosting Guide

Deploy Multica on your own infrastructure in minutes.

Architecture

Component	Description	Technology
Backend	REST API + WebSocket server	Go (single binary)
Frontend	Web application	Next.js 16
Database	Primary data store	PostgreSQL 17 with pgvector

Each user who runs AI agents locally also installs the multica CLI and runs the agent daemon on their own machine.

Quick Install (Recommended)

Two commands to set up everything — server, CLI, and configuration:

# 1. Install CLI + provision the self-host server
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/multica-ai/multica/main/scripts/install.sh | bash -s -- --with-server

# 2. Configure CLI, authenticate, and start the daemon
multica setup self-host

This installs the multica CLI, checks out the latest self-host assets, pulls the official Multica images from GHCR, and configures everything for localhost.

Open http://localhost:3000. To log in, configure RESEND_API_KEY in .env for email-based codes (recommended), or leave Resend unset and copy the generated code from the backend logs. See Step 2 — Log In for details.

Prerequisites: Docker and Docker Compose must be installed. The script checks for this and provides install links if missing.

CLI only? If the self-host server is already running and you only need the CLI on a macOS/Linux machine, install it with Homebrew:

brew install multica-ai/tap/multica

---

Step-by-Step Setup (Alternative)

If you prefer to run each step manually:

Step 1 — Start the Server

Prerequisites: Docker and Docker Compose.

git clone https://github.com/multica-ai/multica.git
cd multica
make selfhost

make selfhost automatically creates .env from the example, generates a random JWT_SECRET, and starts all services via Docker Compose.

By default it pulls the latest stable release images from GHCR. To build the backend/web from your current checkout instead, run make selfhost-build. If the selected GHCR tag has not been published yet, make selfhost now tells you to fall back to make selfhost-build. make selfhost-build uses local multica-backend:dev / multica-web:dev tags, so it does not overwrite the pulled :latest images.

Once ready:

• Frontend: http://localhost:3000
• Backend API: http://localhost:8080

Note: If you prefer to run the Docker Compose steps manually, see Manual Docker Compose Setup below.

Step 2 — Log In

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser. The Docker self-host stack defaults to APP_ENV=production (set in docker-compose.selfhost.yml), and there is no fixed verification code by default. Pick one of the following to log in:

• Recommended (production): configure RESEND_API_KEY in .env, then restart the backend. Real verification codes will be sent to the email address you enter. See Advanced Configuration → Email.
• Without email configured: the verification code is generated server-side and printed to the backend container logs (look for [DEV] Verification code for ...:). Useful for one-off testing on a single machine.
• Deterministic local/private testing: set APP_ENV=development and MULTICA_DEV_VERIFICATION_CODE=888888 in .env, then restart the backend. This fixed code is ignored when APP_ENV=production.

Changes to ALLOW_SIGNUP and GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID also take effect after restarting the backend / compose stack. The web UI reads both from /api/config at runtime, so no web rebuild is needed.

Warning: do not set MULTICA_DEV_VERIFICATION_CODE on a publicly reachable instance — anyone who knows an email address can then log in with that fixed code.

Step 3 — Install CLI & Start Daemon

The daemon runs on your local machine (not inside Docker). It detects installed AI agent CLIs, registers them with the server, and executes tasks when agents are assigned work.

Each team member who wants to run AI agents locally needs to:

a) Install the CLI and an AI agent

brew install multica-ai/tap/multica

You also need at least one AI agent CLI installed:

• Claude Code (claude on PATH)
• Codex (codex on PATH)
• GitHub Copilot CLI (copilot on PATH)
• OpenClaw (openclaw on PATH)
• OpenCode (opencode on PATH)
• Hermes (hermes on PATH)
• Gemini (gemini on PATH)
• Pi (pi on PATH)
• Cursor Agent (cursor-agent on PATH)
• Kimi (kimi on PATH)
• Kiro CLI (kiro-cli on PATH)

b) One-command setup

multica setup self-host

This automatically:

1. Configures the CLI to connect to localhost (ports 8080/3000)
2. Opens your browser for authentication
3. Discovers your workspaces
4. Starts the daemon in the background

For on-premise deployments with custom domains:

multica setup self-host --server-url https://api.example.com --app-url https://app.example.com

To verify the daemon is running:

multica daemon status

Alternative: If you prefer manual steps, see Manual CLI Configuration below.

Step 4 — Verify & Start Using

1. Open your workspace in the web app at http://localhost:3000
2. Navigate to Settings → Runtimes — you should see your machine listed
3. Go to Settings → Agents and create a new agent
4. Create an issue and assign it to your agent — it will pick up the task automatically

---

Kubernetes Deployment (Alternative)

If you already run a Kubernetes cluster, you can deploy Multica there instead of Docker Compose using the Helm chart at deploy/helm/multica/. It targets a typical k3s / k8s setup with an Ingress controller and a default ReadWriteOnce StorageClass — authored against k3s + Traefik + local-path, and should work on any cluster with minor tweaks.

The chart creates the following resources in the target namespace:

• multica-postgres — pgvector/pgvector:pg17 backed by a 10Gi PVC
• multica-backend — Go API/WS server backed by a 5Gi uploads PVC
• multica-frontend — Next.js standalone server
• Two Ingress resources: one for the web host, one for the backend host
• multica-config ConfigMap (rendered from values.yaml)

The multica-secrets Secret is not managed by the chart — you create it once with kubectl so real values never need to land in git.

One release per namespace: the prebuilt multica-web image bakes REMOTE_API_URL=http://backend:8080 at build time, so the chart ships an ExternalName Service literally named backend. Because that name is unprefixed, you can run only one Multica release per namespace, and helm install will fail if a Service/backend already exists there (pass --take-ownership, or use a dedicated namespace). If you build a web image with a patched REMOTE_API_URL, set frontend.compatibility.backendAlias: false to drop the alias.

Prerequisites: kubectl and helm (v3.13+ for --take-ownership, or v4+) configured for the target cluster, an Ingress controller (Traefik / NGINX), and a default StorageClass.

Step 1 — Point hostnames at the cluster

The chart defaults to multica.dev.lan (web) and api.multica.dev.lan (backend). Pick one of:

• /etc/hosts on every machine that needs access (developer laptops + the machine running the daemon):

  192.168.1.206  multica.dev.lan api.multica.dev.lan
  

  Replace 192.168.1.206 with any node IP where your Ingress controller's Service is reachable.

• Local DNS (Pi-hole, Unbound, etc.): add A records for both hostnames pointing at the cluster Ingress IP.

To use different hostnames, override the matching values at install time (see Step 4) — ingress.frontend.host, ingress.backend.host, plus backend.config.appUrl, backend.config.frontendOrigin, backend.config.localUploadBaseUrl, and backend.config.googleRedirectUri.

Step 2 — Create the namespace

kubectl create namespace multica

Step 3 — Create the multica-secrets Secret

The chart references this Secret by name. Create it once with random values:

kubectl -n multica create secret generic multica-secrets \
  --from-literal=JWT_SECRET="$(openssl rand -hex 32)" \
  --from-literal=POSTGRES_PASSWORD="$(openssl rand -hex 16)" \
  --from-literal=RESEND_API_KEY="" \
  --from-literal=GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET="" \
  --from-literal=CLOUDFRONT_PRIVATE_KEY="" \
  --from-literal=MULTICA_DEV_VERIFICATION_CODE=""

Leave optional values empty for now — you can fill them in later (see Step 5 — Log In).

Step 4 — Install the chart

helm install multica deploy/helm/multica -n multica

To override defaults, copy deploy/helm/multica/values.yaml, edit it, and pass it with -f:

cp deploy/helm/multica/values.yaml my-values.yaml
# edit my-values.yaml — e.g. change ingress hosts, image tags, resource limits
helm install multica deploy/helm/multica -n multica -f my-values.yaml

Watch the pods come up:

kubectl -n multica get pods -w

On a cold cluster the backend can sit Running but not Ready for a few minutes while it waits on PostgreSQL and runs migrations — a startupProbe absorbs this, so the pod should not restart. Once the backend reports Ready, migrations have completed and /healthz returns OK:

curl -H "Host: api.multica.dev.lan" http://<ingress-ip>/healthz
# {"status":"ok","checks":{"db":"ok","migrations":"ok"}}

Then open http://multica.dev.lan in your browser.

Step 5 — Log In

The chart defaults to APP_ENV=production (set in values.yaml under backend.config.appEnv), and there is no fixed verification code by default. Pick one of the following to log in — the same three options as the Docker setup:

• Recommended (production): patch the Secret with a real Resend key, then restart the backend:

  kubectl -n multica patch secret multica-secrets --type=merge \
    -p '{"stringData":{"RESEND_API_KEY":"re_xxx"}}'
  kubectl -n multica rollout restart deploy/multica-backend
  

  Real verification codes will be sent to the email address you enter. See Advanced Configuration → Email.

• Without email configured: the verification code is generated server-side and printed to the backend pod logs (look for [DEV] Verification code for ...:). Useful for one-off testing.

  kubectl -n multica logs -f deploy/multica-backend | grep "Verification code"
  

• Deterministic local/private testing: set backend.config.appEnv: development in your values file and MULTICA_DEV_VERIFICATION_CODE=888888 in the Secret, then helm upgrade and restart. This fixed code is ignored when APP_ENV=production.

  helm upgrade multica deploy/helm/multica -n multica \
    -f my-values.yaml --set backend.config.appEnv=development
  kubectl -n multica patch secret multica-secrets --type=merge \
    -p '{"stringData":{"MULTICA_DEV_VERIFICATION_CODE":"888888"}}'
  kubectl -n multica rollout restart deploy/multica-backend
  

ALLOW_SIGNUP and GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID likewise live under backend.config.* in values.yaml. After helm upgrade, the backend pod will roll automatically because the ConfigMap hash changes; the web UI reads both from /api/config at runtime, so no web rebuild is needed.

Warning: do not set MULTICA_DEV_VERIFICATION_CODE on a publicly reachable instance — anyone who knows an email address can then log in with that fixed code.

Step 6 — Install CLI & Start Daemon

The daemon runs on your local machine, not in the cluster. Install the CLI and an AI agent as in Step 3 above, then point the CLI at your Ingress hostnames:

multica setup self-host \
  --server-url http://api.multica.dev.lan \
  --app-url http://multica.dev.lan

Make sure the machine running the daemon has the same /etc/hosts (or DNS) entries from Step 1.

Updating

To pull the latest images without changing the chart version:

kubectl -n multica rollout restart deploy/multica-backend deploy/multica-frontend

To pin a specific Multica release, set the image tags in your values file:

images:
  backend:
    tag: v0.2.4
  frontend:
    tag: v0.2.4

Then upgrade:

helm upgrade multica deploy/helm/multica -n multica -f my-values.yaml

To roll back if an upgrade goes sideways:

helm -n multica rollback multica

Tearing down

# Remove the workloads but keep the PVCs and the Secret
helm -n multica uninstall multica

# Wipe everything, including PostgreSQL data and uploads
kubectl delete namespace multica

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Stopping Services

If you installed via the install script:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/multica-ai/multica/main/scripts/install.sh | bash -s -- --stop

If you cloned the repo manually:

# Stop the Docker Compose services (backend, frontend, database)
make selfhost-stop

# Stop the local daemon
multica daemon stop

Switching to Multica Cloud

If you've been self-hosting and want to switch your CLI to Multica Cloud:

multica setup

This reconfigures the CLI for multica.ai, re-authenticates, and restarts the daemon. You will be prompted before overwriting the existing configuration.

Your local Docker services are unaffected. Stop them separately if you no longer need them.

Upgrading

docker compose -f docker-compose.selfhost.yml pull
docker compose -f docker-compose.selfhost.yml up -d

Pin MULTICA_IMAGE_TAG in .env to an exact version like v0.2.4 if you want to stay on a specific release. Migrations run automatically on backend startup. If the selected GHCR tag has not been published yet, fall back to make selfhost-build or docker compose -f docker-compose.selfhost.yml -f docker-compose.selfhost.build.yml up -d --build.

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Manual Docker Compose Setup

If you prefer running Docker Compose steps manually instead of make selfhost:

git clone https://github.com/multica-ai/multica.git
cd multica
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env — at minimum, change JWT_SECRET:

JWT_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

Then start everything:

docker compose -f docker-compose.selfhost.yml pull
docker compose -f docker-compose.selfhost.yml up -d

Manual CLI Configuration

If you prefer configuring the CLI step by step instead of multica setup:

# Point CLI to your local server
multica config set server_url http://localhost:8080
multica config set app_url http://localhost:3000

# Login (opens browser)
multica login

# Start the daemon
multica daemon start

For production deployments with TLS:

multica config set app_url https://app.example.com
multica config set server_url https://api.example.com
multica login
multica daemon start

Advanced Configuration

For environment variables, manual setup (without Docker), reverse proxy configuration, database setup, and more, see the Advanced Configuration Guide.