Deployment

Once you’ve completed the Getting Started guide, this section covers everything you need for a production deployment.

Single-Container Install — one docker run with SQLite, for home servers, NAS boxes, and small studios.
Docker Configuration — volumes, permissions, production compose, container management.
Environment Variables — complete reference table for all settings.
Reverse Proxy — Nginx, Traefik, and Caddy configurations.
SSL Certificates — Let’s Encrypt with Certbot.
Example: NAS at Home — a complete worked install on a UGREEN NAS behind a FRITZ!Box, with DynDNS, port forwarding, and HTTPS via Nginx Proxy Manager.
Release Channels — stable vs beta, switching channels, update notifications.

Background services

The picpeak-backend container runs a single Node process that hosts the HTTP API plus several long-lived workers. Knowing what each one does helps when reading logs or debugging.

Worker	Trigger	What it does
Storage backend (`initStorage`)	Startup	Validates `STORAGE_BACKEND` config; HEADs the bucket / `stat`s the directory. Refuses to boot on misconfig.
Managed file watcher (chokidar)	Startup; local mode only	Auto-imports any photo dropped into `events/active/<slug>/`. Disabled when `STORAGE_BACKEND=s3`.
External-folder watcher	Startup; opt-in per event	Imports new files from a reference event’s folder after they settle, with a 15-minute fallback scan. Keeps gallery records when source files disappear. Works with local or S3 storage; see External Media.
S3 auto-importer	Startup; opt-in via `STORAGE_AUTO_IMPORT=true`	Polls every active event’s S3 prefix on a slow cadence (default 5 min). Imports objects seen for two consecutive polls. See Storage Backends.
Email queue processor	Every 60s	Sends queued notifications (event creation, expiration warnings, archive complete).
Expiration checker	Every hour (cron)	Marks galleries inactive past their `expires_at`, then archives them. Fires `event.expired` then `event.archived` webhooks.
Webhook delivery worker	Every 5s	Picks up pending `webhook_deliveries`, signs the body with HMAC-SHA256, POSTs with retries. See Webhooks.
Backup service	Cron (admin-configurable)	Local + S3 backups of photos, thumbnails, database.
Temp upload cleanup	Every hour	Removes orphaned multer temp files older than 1 hour.

All workers share the same database connection pool. They’re independent of each other — a stuck email queue won’t block webhook deliveries, etc.