Self-Hosting GudCal: Complete Guide to Running Your Own Scheduling Platform

One of GudCal's core promises is that you can run it anywhere. No vendor lock-in, no data leaving your infrastructure. Here's how to get GudCal running on your own server in under 30 minutes.

Why Self-Host?

There are solid reasons to run your own scheduling platform:

• Data sovereignty — booking data, guest information, and calendar tokens never leave your infrastructure
• Compliance — meet GDPR, HIPAA, or internal data residency requirements
• Customization — modify the source code to fit your exact needs
• Cost control — no per-seat pricing for your team

Prerequisites

You'll need:

• A server or VPS (2GB RAM minimum)
• PostgreSQL 14+ (or a hosted service like Neon or Supabase)
• Node.js 18.17+ or Docker
• A domain with HTTPS configured

Method 1: Docker (Recommended)

The fastest way to get running:

git clone https://github.com/cavewebs/gudcal.git
cd gudcal
cp .env.example .env.local

Edit .env.local with your database URL, authentication secrets, and other configuration. Then:

docker compose up -d

GudCal will be available on port 3000. Point your reverse proxy at it and you're live.

Method 2: Manual Deployment

For more control over the build process:

git clone https://github.com/cavewebs/gudcal.git
cd gudcal
pnpm install
pnpm prisma generate
pnpm prisma db push
pnpm build
pnpm start

Essential Configuration

At minimum, you need these environment variables:

Calendar Integration

To enable Google Calendar sync, you'll need separate OAuth credentials with calendar scopes. Set GOOGLE_CALENDAR_CLIENT_ID and GOOGLE_CALENDAR_CLIENT_SECRET in your environment.

Keeping Updated

GudCal follows semantic versioning. To update:

git pull origin main
pnpm install
pnpm prisma generate
pnpm prisma db push
pnpm build

Check the changelog before upgrading — we note any breaking changes or migration steps.

Need Help?

Open an issue on GitHub or check the self-hosting documentation for detailed configuration options.