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Self-Hosting Setup

This guide walks through running MedTracker on your own computer for local evaluation only.

🏁 Before you begin

If you've never used your computer's "Terminal" before, don't worry! Here's how to find it:

  • Windows: Search for "PowerShell" or "Command Prompt" in your Start menu.
  • Mac: Open "Finder", go to "Applications" → "Utilities", and double-click Terminal.

What you'll need

You'll need to install these four tools before we start. They are the "engine" that runs MedTracker:

  1. Docker Desktop: download and install the version for your computer.
  2. Git: follow the instructions for your computer.
  3. Task: follow the instructions for your computer (e.g., brew install go-task/tap/go-task on Mac).
  4. Portless: install it with npm install -g portless, then run portless trust once to trust its local HTTPS certificate.

1. Download MedTracker

Open your Terminal and paste these commands (one line at a time):

git clone https://github.com/damacus/med-tracker.git
cd med-tracker

2. Start the App

Local evaluation only: task dev:portless starts the development stack. Do not run this stack on a public or shared network, and do not use it as a production server for real medication or person records. For a reachable server, use a production deployment and create your first administrator through the bootstrap/invitation flow instead of loading development fixtures.

Now, let's start the app's services:

task dev:portless

This might take a few minutes the first time as it downloads the necessary parts. If it asks for permission to access your files or network, click Allow.

3. Add Some Example Data

To make it easier to see how it works, you can add local-only "dummy" data (like example people and medicines). These fixtures include sample accounts and known passwords, so only run this command on a private development machine:

task dev:seed

4. Open MedTracker in Your Browser

Now, open your web browser and go to:

👉 https://med-tracker.localhost

Sign in with a local demo account from the seed output, or use the account your administrator invited for a production deployment. If you loaded fixture data, change or remove any sample accounts before exposing the app beyond your own computer.

What's next?

Now that the app is running, you can: