Install

This page covers a production-style Docker Compose install. For the fastest path see the Quickstart; for fully-local models, GPU hosts, or air-gapped installs see the Deployment guides.

Requirements

Docker with Docker Compose v2 (≥ 2.24).
RAM: ~8 GB with an external model API; ~16 GB for the fully-local stack (--local).
One published port – 8080 by default. Everything else (Postgres, Qdrant, Redis, the ML service) stays on Fosnie's internal network and is never exposed.

Option A – one-line install

Downloads a pinned release, generates secrets, and starts the stack.

curl -fsSL https://get.fosnie.dev | sh
# fully local – no API keys, all inference on this host:
curl -fsSL https://get.fosnie.dev | sh -s -- --local

Prefer to read before you run: download install.sh, review it, then sh install.sh.

Option B – manual (Docker Compose)

mkdir fosnie && cd fosnie
curl -fsSL -O https://github.com/Fosnie/fosnie/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
curl -fsSL https://github.com/Fosnie/fosnie/releases/latest/download/example.env -o .env
# edit .env – see "Required settings" below
docker compose up -d

Required settings

Generate a fresh value for each – never ship the placeholders. Keep .env at mode 600.

Variable	What it is	Generate with
`POSTGRES_PASSWORD`	Database password	`openssl rand -hex 24`
`MESSAGE_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	At-rest encryption key (base64 of 32 bytes)	`openssl rand -base64 32`
`ML_SHARED_SECRET`	Backend ↔ ML service secret	`openssl rand -hex 32`

A set-but-invalid MESSAGE_ENCRYPTION_KEY fails boot on purpose. If it is left unset, direct messages are stored in plaintext – set it. See Configuration & env vars for the full list.

What gets started

The default profile is five containers:

Service	Role
`backend`	Rust API – also serves the web app; the only container on port `8080`
`ml`	Python service – the only component that talks to a model
`postgres`	Application data and the audit log
`qdrant`	Vector store for retrieval
`redis`	Sessions, presence, real-time tickets (ephemeral)

Database migrations run inside the backend on boot – there is no separate migrate step. Data lives in named volumes and survives docker compose down and reboots (restart: unless-stopped).

Open http://localhost:8080 and create the first account – it becomes the admin. By default Fosnie uses built-in email/password auth (AUTH_MODE=local); an onboarding checklist walks you through adding a model provider. To use your company IdP instead, set AUTH_MODE=keycloak – see Admin & teams.

Next steps

Add a model provider – local engine or an API key.
Upload documents and ask – your first grounded answer.
Fully-local models · GPU tier · Air-gapped install.