actual-server/README.md

This is the main project to run [Actual](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual), a local-first personal finance tool. It comes with the latest version of Actual, and a server to persist changes and make data available across all devices.

Join the [discord](https://discord.gg/pRYNYr4W5A)!

## Non-technical users

We are looking into a feature for one-button click click deployment of Actual. This will reduce the friction for people not as comfortable with the command line.

## Running

It's very easy to get started. Clone this repo, install deps, and start it:

```
git clone https://github.com/actualbudget/actual-server.git
cd actual-server
yarn install
yarn start
```

Go to https://localhost:5006 in your browser and you'll see Actual.

## Deploying

You should deploy your server so it's always running. We recommend [fly.io](https://fly.io) which makes it incredibly easy and provides a free plan.

[Create an account](https://fly.io/app/sign-in). Once you see the credit card page, you don't actually have to enter it. Just navigate to https://fly.io/apps to see the dashboard.

Next, [install the `flyctl`](https://fly.io/docs/flyctl/installing/) utility. Run `flyctl auth login` to sign into your account.

Open `fly.toml` and customize the app name on the first line of the file.

Now, run `flyctl launch` from `actual-server`. You should have a running app now!

Whenever you want to update Actual, update the versions of `@actual-app/api` and `@actual-app/web` in `package.json` and run `flyctl  deploy`.

**Note:** if you don't want to use fly, we still provide a `Dockerfile` to build the app so it should work anywhere that can compile a docker image.

## Configuring the server URL

The Actual app is totally separate from the server. In this project, they happen to both be served by the same server, but the app doesn't know where the server lives.

The server could live on a completely different domain. You might setup Actual so that the app and server are running in completely separate places.

Since Actual doesn't know what server to use, the first thing it does is asks you for the server URL. If you are running this project, simply click "Use this domain" and it will automatically fill it in with the current domain. This works because we are serving the app and server in the same place.