Contributing to Coolify

"First, thanks for considering contributing to my project. It really means a lot!" - @andrasbacsai

You can ask for guidance anytime on our Discord Community Server in the #contribute channel.

To understand the tech stack, please refer to the Tech Stack document.

Table of Contents

1. Setup Development Environment
2. Verify Installation
3. Fork and Setup Local Repository
4. Set up Environment Variables
5. Start Coolify
6. Start Development
7. Create a Pull Request
8. Development Notes
9. Resetting Development Environment
10. Additional Contribution Guidelines

1. Setup Development Environment

Follow the steps below for your operating system:

Windows

1. Install docker-ce, Docker Desktop (or similar):

   • Docker CE (recommended):
     • Install Windows Subsystem for Linux v2 (WSL2) by following this guide: Install WSL
     • After installing WSL2, install Docker CE for your Linux distribution by following this guide: Install Docker Engine
     • Make sure to choose the appropriate Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu) when following the Docker installation guide
   • Install Docker Desktop (easier):
     • Download and install Docker Desktop for Windows
     • Ensure WSL2 backend is enabled in Docker Desktop settings

2. Install Spin:

   • Follow the instructions to install Spin on Windows from the Spin documentation

MacOS

1. Install Orbstack, Docker Desktop (or similar):

   • Orbstack (recommended, as it is a faster and lighter alternative to Docker Desktop):
     • Download and install Orbstack
   • Docker Desktop:
     • Download and install Docker Desktop for Mac

2. Install Spin:

   • Follow the instructions to install Spin on MacOS from the Spin documentation

Linux

1. Install Docker Engine, Docker Desktop (or similar):

   • Docker Engine (recommended, as there is no VM overhead):
     • Follow the official Docker Engine installation guide for your Linux distribution
   • Docker Desktop:
     • If you want a GUI, you can use Docker Desktop for Linux

2. Install Spin:

   • Follow the instructions to install Spin on Linux from the Spin documentation

2. Verify Installation (Optional)

After installing Docker (or Orbstack) and Spin, verify the installation:

1. Open a terminal or command prompt
2. Run the following commands:

   docker --version
   spin --version

   You should see version information for both Docker and Spin.

3. Fork and Setup Local Repository

1. Fork the Coolify repository to your GitHub account.

2. Install a code editor on your machine (choose one):

   Editor	Platform	Download Link
   Visual Studio Code (recommended free)	Windows/macOS/Linux	Download
   Cursor (recommended but paid)	Windows/macOS/Linux	Download
   Zed (very fast)	macOS/Linux	Download

3. Clone the Coolify Repository from your fork to your local machine

   • Use git clone in the command line, or
   • Use GitHub Desktop (recommended):
     • Download and install from https://desktop.github.com/
     • Open GitHub Desktop and login with your GitHub account
     • Click on File -> Clone Repository select github.com as the repository location, then select your forked Coolify repository, choose the local path and then click Clone

4. Open the cloned Coolify Repository in your chosen code editor.

4. Set up Environment Variables

1. In the Code Editor, locate the .env.development.example file in the root directory of your local Coolify repository.
2. Duplicate the .env.development.example file and rename the copy to .env.
3. Open the new .env file and review its contents. Adjust any environment variables as needed for your development setup.
4. If you encounter errors during database migrations, update the database connection settings in your .env file. Use the IP address or hostname of your PostgreSQL database container. You can find this information by running docker ps after executing spin up.
5. Save the changes to your .env file.

5. Start Coolify

1. Open a terminal in the local Coolify directory.
2. Run the following command in the terminal (leave that terminal open):

   spin up

Note:

You may see some errors, but don't worry this is expected.

3. If you encounter permission errors, especially on macOS, use:

   sudo spin up

Note:

If you change environment variables afterwards or anything seems broken, press Ctrl + C to stop the process and run spin up again.

6. Start Development

1. Access your Coolify instance:

   • URL: http://localhost:8000
   • Login: [email protected]
   • Password: password

2. Additional development tools:

Tool	URL	Note
Laravel Horizon (scheduler)	http://localhost:8000/horizon	Only accessible when logged in as root user
Mailpit (email catcher)	http://localhost:8025
Telescope (debugging tool)	http://localhost:8000/telescope	Disabled by default

Tip:

To enable Telescope, add the following to your .env file:

TELESCOPE_ENABLED=true

7. Create a Pull Request

1. After making changes or adding a new service:

   • Commit your changes to your forked repository.
   • Push the changes to your GitHub account.

2. Creating the Pull Request (PR):

   • Navigate to the main Coolify repository on GitHub.
   • Click the "Pull requests" tab.
   • Click the green "New pull request" button.
   • Choose your fork and branch as the compare branch.
   • Click "Create pull request".

3. Filling out the PR details:

   • Give your PR a descriptive title.
   • Use the Pull Request Template provided and fill in the details.

IMPORTANT

Always set the base branch for your PR to the next branch of the Coolify repository, not the main branch.

4. Submit your PR:
   • Review your changes one last time.
   • Click "Create pull request" to submit.

Note:

Make sure your PR is out of draft mode as soon as it's ready for review. PRs that are in draft mode for a long time may be closed by maintainers.

After submission, maintainers will review your PR and may request changes or provide feedback.

Development Notes

When working on Coolify, keep the following in mind:

1. Database Migrations: After switching branches or making changes to the database structure, always run migrations:

docker exec -it coolify php artisan migrate

2. Resetting Development Setup: To reset your development setup to a clean database with default values:

docker exec -it coolify php artisan migrate:fresh --seed

3. Troubleshooting: If you encounter unexpected behavior, ensure your database is up-to-date with the latest migrations and if possible reset the development setup to eliminate any environment-specific issues.

IMPORTANT:

Forgetting to migrate the database can cause problems, so make it a habit to run migrations after pulling changes or switching branches.

Resetting Development Environment

If you encounter issues or break your database or something else, follow these steps to start from a clean slate (works since v4.0.0-beta.342):

1. Stop all running containers ctrl + c.

2. Remove all Coolify containers:

docker rm coolify coolify-db coolify-redis coolify-realtime coolify-testing-host coolify-minio coolify-vite-1 coolify-mail

3. Remove Coolify volumes (it is possible that the volumes have no coolify prefix on your machine, in that case remove the prefix from the command):

docker volume rm coolify_dev_backups_data coolify_dev_postgres_data coolify_dev_redis_data coolify_dev_coolify_data coolify_dev_minio_data

4. Remove unused images:

docker image prune -a

5. Start Coolify again:

spin up

6. Run database migrations and seeders:

docker exec -it coolify php artisan migrate:fresh --seed

After completing these steps, you'll have a fresh development setup.

IMPORTANT

Always run database migrations and seeders after switching branches or pulling updates to ensure your local database structure matches the current codebase and includes necessary seed data.

Additional Contribution Guidelines

Contributing a New Service

To add a new service to Coolify, please refer to our documentation: Adding a New Service

Contributing to Documentation

To contribute to the Coolify documentation, please refer to this guide: Contributing to the Coolify Documentation