Local Development

Running the Backend

Start the full back end (app server, database, Researcher API, in-app chat service) with Docker Compose from the repository root (see Installation Instructions for prerequisites and .env setup):

# Start all services in detached mode
docker compose up -d

# Rebuild images first (e.g. after changing a Dockerfile or dependencies)
docker compose up --build -d

In local/dev mode, the admin website is reachable at http://localhost:3000.

To follow logs or check container status:

docker compose logs -f meteor
docker compose ps

Inspecting the Database

The database is exposed on the host at port 27017. Connect MongoDB Compass using:

mongodb://localhost:27017/meteor

In this documentation, we adhere to MongoDB's naming convention: tables are collections, and tuples are documents. There is no need to create a document collection yourself — the database creates one automatically when the first document is inserted.

First Maintainer Account

If no accounts exist yet on startup, the platform automatically creates a first account with the admin and maintainer roles (currently seeded as username adam, email adam@uzh.ch, password password). Change this immediately in any shared or long-lived environment, and remove the seed once a real maintainer account exists.

Running the Frontend

cd frontend
npm install --legacy-peer-deps
npx expo start --clear

Point the app at your running backend via frontend/.env (see Installation Instructions for the local-network vs. tunnel options).

After starting Metro, scan the printed QR code to test on a physical device (recommended), or connect a simulator/emulator. Because the app relies on native modules, use a development build rather than the generic Expo Go client from the store:

npx expo run:android
npx expo run:ios

Changes to the source code are reflected live via Fast Refresh while expo start is running.

Next Step: Platform Deployment

Please see the next instruction pages for App Deployment and Back End Deployment.