Installation Instructions

The back end (the app server, database, Researcher API, and in-app chat service) runs as a set of Docker containers. The mobile app front end is a separate project that talks to the back end over the network; you run it locally and point it at your back end.

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose (install Docker) — runs the entire back end.
• Node.js and npm — needed to install and run the frontend; use a recent Node LTS release.
• Expo Go or a development build — to run the app on a device or simulator. Because the app uses native modules, a plain Expo Go client from the store is not guaranteed to work; use a development build instead (see expo run:android / expo run:ios below).

Download the Codebase

git clone https://github.com/Informfully/Platform.git
cd Platform

Configure Environment Variables

Copy the example environment file and fill in the required secrets:

cp .env.example .env

.env currently defines:

Variable	Purpose
API_JWT_SECRET	Secret used to secure the connection between the platform's services. Set this to a random string, even in development.
ROOT_URL	The public URL of the platform (e.g. http://localhost:3000).
CADDY_HOSTNAME	Domain name used for the HTTPS certificate in a production deployment. Can be left empty for local development.
GROQ_API_KEY	API key for the in-app chat service's language model.

Start the Backend

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

# Or, to rebuild images after a dependency change
docker compose up --build -d

This starts the platform's back end services: the app server, its database, the Researcher API, and the in-app chat service. See Docker Setup for details on each service, and Local Development for day-to-day workflows.

Make sure ports 3000 (back end) and 8081 (used by the frontend) are reachable on your system; when testing purely on a simulator on the same machine you can ignore this.

Install and Run the Frontend

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

If you need to reset a broken install, remove the lockfile and node_modules first:

rm -rf package-lock.json node_modules frontend/node_modules
npm install --legacy-peer-deps

Pointing the App at Your Backend

The frontend needs to reach the Meteor backend over the network. Configure this in frontend/.env (copy from frontend/.env.example):

• Same local network (e.g. phone and laptop on the same Wi-Fi): set EXPO_PUBLIC_SERVER_IP to your backend machine's IP address.
• Tunnel (e.g. when the local-network option doesn't work): set up a tunnel (e.g. ngrok) to port 3000, then set EXPO_PACKAGER_PROXY_URL to the tunnel URL.

Next Step: Run the Code

Please see the next instruction page for Local Development.