What is hostr-stack?

hostr-stack is a "SaaS-in-a-box bootstrap kit" for developers who want to launch a software product on a single server (VPS) without manually setting up every piece of infrastructure. The problem it solves is the tedious, error-prone process of wiring together authentication, a database, analytics, email, and an app server from scratch, hostr-stack automates all of that in one installation command. When you run the installer on a fresh VPS, it sets up and connects: Logto for user authentication, Postgres for your database, Umami for website analytics, useSend for email, a Next.js app starter pre-wired to Logto, and SSL certificates through Dokploy, Traefik, and Let's Encrypt. Dokploy is a deployment management panel that hostr-stack uses to orchestrate and manage all these services. You do not even need a real domain to get started, the installer automatically uses nip.io, a free service that creates URLs based on your server's IP address. Once installed, a command-line tool called bin/hostr-stack lets you run smoke tests to verify everything is working, back up your data, restore from backups, and switch to a real domain when you are ready. If you already have an app, you can swap out the bundled Next.js starter for your own Docker image or local codebase. The project also includes a GitHub Actions workflow that automatically builds your app and redeploys it to your server whenever you push new code to the main branch. This is written primarily in Shell (bash scripts) and is aimed at solo developers or small teams who want a complete, production-ready starting point without managing each service independently.