nocobase/playground

Hub playground

Run the published NocoBase Hub image with SQLite and a named volume for the Hub database, application artifacts, deployments, application data, and host configuration. This directory has its own .env and editable config.yml. Run the following commands from playground/.

Start

Copy .env.example to .env, preserving an existing file. Generate two secrets and fill in AUTH_SECRET and SESSION_SECRET before starting:

cp -n .env.example .env
openssl rand -hex 32
openssl rand -hex 32
# Edit .env and paste the generated values into AUTH_SECRET and SESSION_SECRET.
docker compose config --quiet
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d --wait
docker compose logs -f hub

Open http://localhost:13000/hub/ and sign in with admin@nocobase.com / admin123. Change the password after signing in. Compose requires both secrets to be nonempty; keep them unchanged across restarts and image updates.

Select an image

The default image is ghcr.io/nocobase/hub:latest. To use Alibaba Cloud, set this in .env:

NOCOBASE_IMAGE=registry.cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com/nocobase/hub:latest

The Hub image workflow can be triggered manually and runs automatically after a successful beta release and GitHub Release publication. Dry runs and failed or cancelled releases do not publish images. Automatic builds use the source at that release's tag and publish the latest image tag. Every build publishes to both GHCR and Alibaba Cloud, with linux/amd64 and linux/arm64 under the same tag in each registry. Compose lets Docker select the host's architecture. Use a published run-<run-id>-<attempt> tag or digest to pin a specific build.

If pulling a private image returns unauthorized, log in to its registry with an account that can read nocobase/hub: docker login ghcr.io or docker login registry.cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com. Public images support anonymous pulls. GitHub Actions publishing secrets are separate from local Docker credentials.

To try a local build before publishing, run this from the repository root:

docker build -f packages/templates/app-template-hub/Dockerfile --build-arg APP_DIR=packages/templates/app-template-hub -t nocobase-hub:local .

Then set NOCOBASE_IMAGE=nocobase-hub:local in playground/.env and run docker compose up -d --wait --pull never from playground/.

Configuration

Edit config.yml for Hub settings such as its title, language, appearance, and database configuration. Compose mounts the file read-only at /app/config.yml and sets APP_CONFIG_FILE to that path. The file must exist and be readable by the image's node user (UID 1000). Authentication and session secrets stay in the gitignored .env; Compose passes them to the container as environment variables, which override the configuration file.

Variable	Purpose
NOCOBASE_IMAGE	Hub image from GHCR, Alibaba Cloud, or a local build.
NOCOBASE_BIND_HOST	Defaults to 127.0.0.1; use 0.0.0.0 to expose the port on other interfaces.
NOCOBASE_PORT	Host port, default 13000.
APP_PUBLIC_ORIGIN	Browser-facing origin without /hub; update when changing the port or domain.
AUTH_SECRET, SESSION_SECRET	Stable random secrets generated before first startup.

The published image uses /hub. Changing only a runtime environment variable cannot relocate the built client; build a new image with APP_BASE_PATH if a different path is needed. For a reverse proxy, set the public HTTPS origin and preserve the public Host and protocol in forwarded requests.

After editing .env or config.yml, recreate the container to load the new configuration, including when an editor replaces the mounted file during an atomic save:

docker compose up -d --force-recreate --wait

The Hub configuration example documents additional application settings. A variable referenced by a configuration setting must also be passed through the service's environment section; Compose's .env file alone does not inject every value into the container.

Update and stop

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d --wait
docker compose down

The named volume at /app/storage survives container replacement and docker compose down. Adding --volumes deletes the Hub database and all stored artifacts, deployments, and application data. The project name is nocobase-hub; use a separate project name and host port for each independent playground.