Self-Host Pro Demo App

A reference implementation demonstrating how to build, version, and distribute self-hosted software using Self-Host Pro.

While this demo uses Laravel, Self-Host Pro works with any containerized application — Node.js, Python, Go, Ruby, or any stack that runs in Docker.

What This Demonstrates

This app showcases the complete workflow for selling self-hosted software:

• Database Persistence — SQLite data survives container restarts
• Version Embedding — App version injected at build time via composer.json
• Automated Builds — GitHub Actions builds and pushes to Self-Host Pro's registry
• Release Strategies — Edge, pre-release, and stable release workflows

GitHub Actions Workflows

The CI/CD setup uses a single reusable workflow called by three trigger files. Check out .github/workflows/ to see:

File	Trigger	Tags Produced
action_stable-release.yml	GitHub Release	latest, 1.2.0, 1
action_prerelease.yml	GitHub Pre-release	prerelease, prerelease-v1.0.0-beta
action_edge.yml	Push to main	edge-main
service_docker-build-and-publish.yml	Called by above	(reusable build logic)

Each trigger workflow is ~20 lines — they just pass different tags to the shared build pipeline. Copy a trigger file to add new release channels like nightly or canary.

Local Development with Spin

This project uses Spin for local Docker development. Spin provides a consistent environment that mirrors production.

Prerequisites

• Docker & Docker Compose
• Spin

Getting Started

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/selfhostpro/demo-app.git
cd demo-app

# Copy environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Install dependencies
spin run php composer install
spin run node yarn install

# Generate app key and run migrations
spin run php php artisan key:generate
spin run php php artisan migrate

# Seed demo data
spin run php php artisan initialize --force

# Start application servers with Vite
spin up

Visit https://laravel.dev.test (add to 127.0.0.1 laravel.dev.test in /etc/hosts if needed).

Docker Setup

The project includes two Dockerfiles:

• Dockerfile.php — Production PHP image with FrankenPHP
• Dockerfile.node — Node.js for building frontend assets

Building for Production

The GitHub Actions workflow handles production builds, but you can build manually:

# Install dependencies first
spin run php composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev
spin run node yarn install && yarn build

# Build the image
docker build -t shpcr.io/yourname/app:latest -f Dockerfile.php .

# Push to Self-Host Pro registry
docker login shpcr.io
docker push shpcr.io/yourname/app:latest

Project Structure

├── .github/workflows/       # CI/CD workflows (start here!)
│   ├── action_stable-release.yml
│   ├── action_prerelease.yml
│   ├── action_edge.yml
│   └── service_docker-build-and-publish.yml
├── app/
│   ├── Console/Commands/    # Artisan commands
│   └── Models/              # Eloquent models
├── resources/
│   ├── css/                 # Tailwind CSS
│   ├── js/                  # Globe animation & app JS
│   └── views/               # Blade templates
├── docker-compose.yml       # Base compose config
├── docker-compose.dev.yml   # Development overrides
├── docker-compose.ci.yml    # CI build config
├── Dockerfile.php           # Production PHP image
└── Dockerfile.node          # Node build image

Versioning

Set the version in composer.json or via environment variable:

{
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

APP_VERSION=1.0.0

The GitHub Actions workflow automatically updates composer.json with the release tag version before building.

Artisan Commands

# Seed space mission demo data
php artisan initialize [--force]

# Check app status
php artisan status

# Reset to clean state
php artisan reset [--force]

Learn More

• Self-Host Pro Documentation
• Spin Documentation
• Server Side Up Discord