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.

Forking and Publishing to Your Own Self-Host Pro Account

This demo pushes to Self-Host Pro’s registry (shpcr.io). To have GitHub Actions build and push to your account instead:

1. Fork this repo.
2. Get a Self-Host Pro access token: Register (if needed), then create an access token. The token is used as both username and password when logging in to the registry.
3. Configure your fork in GitHub (see below). Use Variables for image/registry names and Secrets only for the token.

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Where to configure: Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions

In your fork, open Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions. The first tab is Secrets, then Variables. Configure in that order:

Secrets tab (first) — for credentials. Add:

Name	Value
SHPCR_USERNAME	Your Self-Host Pro username (me@example.com)
SHPCR_PASSWORD	Your Self-Host Pro access token

Variables tab (second) — for names (not sensitive). Add:

Name	Value
IMAGE_NAME	Image path only, e.g. your-org/your-app (no registry, no tag). This is the only variable you need for Self-Host Pro.

Optional: REGISTRY — Only set this if you’re using a different registry host (e.g. a dev/staging registry). Everyone else can leave it unset; the workflow defaults to shpcr.io.

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Triggering builds: After the Variables and Secrets above are set, push to main (edge), create a pre-release, or publish a release. The workflows will build and push to your image. If you don’t set anything, the workflow still runs but pushes to shpcr.io/selfhostpro/demo, which will fail unless you have push access to that image.

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