Getting started

Installation

Deploying EXMER itself — the Express backend and React Mini App — on your own server. Takes about fifteen minutes on a fresh Linux VM.

Requirements

Linux server (Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL, Fedora, Alpine, or Arch)
Node.js 22+ and npm
Caddy 2.x (for automatic HTTPS)
A domain name pointed at the server's IP
A Telegram bot token from @BotFather
Optional: an Anthropic API key for AI Analysis

1. Clone and build

git clone https://github.com/exmedev/exmer.git /opt/exmer
cd /opt/exmer

cd backend && npm install && npm run build && cd ..
cd frontend && npm install && npm run build && cd ..

The backend compiles TypeScript to backend/dist/. The frontend builds static assets into frontend/dist/, which the backend serves at any non-API path.

2. Configure environment

cd /opt/exmer/backend
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env to set:

JWT_SECRET — generate with node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))". Required; refuses to start without it.
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN — from BotFather.
ADMIN_USER_IDS — comma-separated Telegram user IDs of super-admins.
APP_DOMAIN — your domain, e.g. exer.me.
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — optional, enables AI Analysis.
AI_MODEL — optional, e.g. claude-sonnet-4-20250514.
LOG_LEVEL — optional, one of debug, info, warn, error. Default: info.

Never commit .env to git. The .gitignore already excludes it, but double-check. JWT_SECRET is used to derive the database encryption key — if it leaks, every stored SSH credential can be decrypted.

3. systemd service

Create /etc/systemd/system/exmer.service:

[Unit]
Description=EXMER backend
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/opt/exmer/backend
EnvironmentFile=/opt/exmer/backend/.env
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node dist/index.js
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
User=root

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now exmer
systemctl status exmer

4. Caddy reverse proxy

Create /etc/caddy/Caddyfile:

exer.me {
    encode gzip
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

Reload Caddy: systemctl reload caddy. It automatically provisions a Let's Encrypt cert.

5. Wire the bot to BotFather

Open @BotFather, run /mybots, select your bot, then Bot Settings → Menu Button → Configure menu button. Enter:

URL: https://exer.me
Text: Open EXMER

6. Verify

curl https://exer.me/api/health

Should return {"status":"ok","name":"EXMER","version":"1.0.0", ...}. If yes, you're done.

Database backups

EXMER runs an automatic daily backup of data/exmer.db into data/backups/ with 30-day retention. The first backup fires 60 seconds after startup. Super-admins can trigger manual backups and download them via the admin panel. See Security for details.