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RedditBot/docs/deployment.md
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Deployment Guide

Complete guide for deploying RedditBot in various environments.

Table of Contents

  1. Prerequisites
  2. Local Development
  3. Docker Deployment
  4. Docker Compose
  5. Dokploy Deployment
  6. Production Considerations
  7. Monitoring & Maintenance
  8. Troubleshooting

Prerequisites

Required

Requirement Version Notes
Node.js 20.19+ or 22.12+ Required by the locked Vite toolchain
npm Bundled with Node Use npm ci for lockfile-exact installs
OpenRouter API Key - Sign up at openrouter.ai
Reddit Account - With DM permissions enabled

Recommended

Requirement Notes
1 GB RAM Minimum for browser automation
1 CPU core More for higher message throughput
5 GB disk For database, media, and browser data

Local Development

1. Clone and Install

git clone <repository-url>
cd RedditBot
npm install

2. Configure

Create config.yaml:

reddit:
  subreddits:
    - gonewild
  pollInterval: 15
  targetGender: "F"
  sellerKeywords:
    - seller
    - onlyfans

openrouter:
  apiKey: "sk-or-v1-your-key-here"
  model: "meta-llama/llama-3.2-90b-vision-preview"
  fallbackModels:
    - "google/gemini-2.0-flash-001"

rateLimit:
  minDelayMs: 30000
  maxMessagesPerHour: 20
  jitterMs: 15000

browser:
  headless: true
  userDataDir: "./data/browser"

database:
  path: "./data/reddit-bot.db"

web:
  port: 3000

dryRun: true  # Start in dry run mode

Set environment variables:

export REDDIT_USERNAME="your-username"
export REDDIT_PASSWORD="your-password"

3. Initial Login

Run the login script to establish a browser session:

npm run login

This will:

  1. Open a browser window
  2. Navigate to Reddit login
  3. Wait for you to complete login (including 2FA if enabled)
  4. Save cookies to data/browser/

4. Start the Bot

# Terminal 1: backend with TypeScript execution
npm run dev

# Terminal 2: Vite dashboard; proxies /api to port 3000
npm run dashboard:dev

# Production: compile server and dashboard, then start
npm run build
npm start

5. Access Dashboard

Open the Vite URL (normally http://localhost:5173) during frontend development. Production dashboard checks use http://localhost:3000.

Docker Deployment

Build the Image

docker build -t reddit-bot .

Run the Container

docker run -d \
  --name reddit-bot \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v $(pwd)/data:/app/data \
  -e OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-your-key \
  -e REDDIT_USERNAME=your-username \
  -e REDDIT_PASSWORD=your-password \
  -e BROWSER_HEADLESS=true \
  reddit-bot:latest

Dockerfile behavior

The image is based on the Playwright Jammy image rather than Alpine because the runtime needs Chromium and its system libraries. It installs Xvfb, x11vnc, noVNC, Fluxbox, and Websockify for interactive Reddit login; installs the locked Node dependencies; copies the repository; and runs npm run build.

That build produces both dist/ for the Express server and apps/dashboard/dist/ for Vite assets. Ports 3000 (dashboard/API) and 6080 (noVNC) are exposed, and docker/entrypoint.sh starts the display services and application. This is a single-stage image and retains development dependencies needed by the current build/runtime layout.

Docker Compose

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  reddit-bot:
    build: .
    container_name: reddit-bot
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
    environment:
      - OPENROUTER_API_KEY=${OPENROUTER_API_KEY}
      - REDDIT_USERNAME=${REDDIT_USERNAME}
      - REDDIT_PASSWORD=${REDDIT_PASSWORD}
      - BROWSER_HEADLESS=true
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--spider", "http://localhost:3000/api/stats"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 60s

Start with Compose

# Set environment variables
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your credentials

# Build and start
docker compose up -d --build

# View logs
docker compose logs -f reddit-bot

# Stop
docker compose down

# Restart
docker compose restart

Dokploy Deployment

Dokploy is a self-hosted platform for deploying applications. See DOKPLOY_DEPLOY.md for detailed instructions.

Quick Start

  1. Create Application: In Dokploy dashboard, create a new Docker application
  2. Set Environment Variables:
    • OPENROUTER_API_KEY
    • REDDIT_USERNAME
    • REDDIT_PASSWORD
    • BROWSER_HEADLESS
  3. Mount Volume: Mount ./data for persistent storage
  4. Set Port: Map container port 3000 to host port
  5. Deploy: Push to repository and trigger deployment

Dokploy Configuration

# Dokploy-specific settings
app:
  type: docker
  repository: <your-repo>
  branch: main
  dockerfilePath: Dockerfile
  
  environment:
    OPENROUTER_API_KEY: $OPENROUTER_API_KEY
    REDDIT_USERNAME: $REDDIT_USERNAME
    REDDIT_PASSWORD: $REDDIT_PASSWORD
    BROWSER_HEADLESS: "true"
  
  ports:
    - container: 3000
      host: 3000
  
  volumes:
    - source: reddit-bot-data
      target: /app/data
      type: bind
  
  restartPolicy: unless-stopped

Production Considerations

Security

  1. Network Isolation: Keep the dashboard on a trusted network during the migration cutover
  2. Environment Variables: Never commit credentials; use secrets management
  3. Dashboard Access: Authenticated Express hosting for React assets, API, SSE, debug routes, and private media is a required cutover gate, not a currently proven guarantee
  4. Browser Data: Protect data/browser/ directory

Performance

  1. Browser Headless: Always use headless mode in production
  2. WAL Mode: SQLite WAL mode is enabled by default for concurrent reads
  3. Rate Limiting: Adjust based on Reddit account age and trust level
  4. Message Volume: Start low (10-20/hour) and increase gradually

Reliability

  1. Auto-restart: Use restart: unless-stopped in Docker
  2. Health Checks: Monitor /api/stats endpoint
  3. Logging: Review logs regularly for errors
  4. Backups: Regularly backup data/reddit-bot.db

Monitoring

  1. Dashboard: Check web dashboard for real-time stats
  2. Response Rate: Monitor response rates per strategy/subreddit
  3. Error Rate: Watch for AI refusals, send failures
  4. Browser Health: Verify session isn't expired

Scaling

RedditBot is designed as a single-instance application. For scaling:

  1. Multiple Accounts: Run separate instances per Reddit account
  2. Subreddit Split: Distribute subreddits across instances
  3. Centralized DB: Consider moving to PostgreSQL for multi-instance

Monitoring & Maintenance

Daily Checks

  • Dashboard shows bot is running
  • Response rate is reasonable (>10%)
  • No repeated errors in logs
  • Browser session is active

Weekly Tasks

  • Review analytics (strategy performance, subreddit performance)
  • Check disk usage (media files, database)
  • Verify backup is working
  • Review successful messages for quality

Monthly Tasks

  • Backup database
  • Review and update strategy variants
  • Check for OpenRouter model updates
  • Review and update seller keywords
  • Verify browser session is still valid

Backup Procedure

# Stop the bot
docker compose stop

# Backup database
cp data/reddit-bot.db data/reddit-bot.db.backup.$(date +%Y%m%d)

# Backup browser session (optional)
tar czf data/browser.backup.$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz data/browser/

# Restart the bot
docker compose start

Troubleshooting

Bot Won't Start

Symptom: Bot exits immediately on startup.

Steps:

  1. Check logs: docker compose logs reddit-bot
  2. Verify config.yaml syntax
  3. Verify environment variables are set
  4. Check for Zod validation errors in logs

Browser Login Fails

Symptom: "Browser session expired" or login fails.

Steps:

  1. Delete browser data: rm -rf data/browser/
  2. Re-run login: npm run login
  3. Check Reddit account is not locked
  4. Try BROWSER_HEADLESS=false for debugging

AI Analysis Fails

Symptom: All messages show "AI refusal" or analysis errors.

Steps:

  1. Verify API key is valid and has balance
  2. Check model availability on OpenRouter
  3. Try changing to a different model
  4. Review logs for specific error messages

High Error Rate

Symptom: Many messages fail to send.

Steps:

  1. Check rate limiting (reduce maxMessagesPerHour)
  2. Increase minDelayMs and jitterMs
  3. Check for IP bans (try different network)
  4. Review Reddit account standing

Dashboard Not Accessible

Symptom: Cannot reach http://localhost:3000.

Steps:

  1. Verify bot is running (docker compose ps)
  2. Check port is not in use: lsof -i :3000
  3. Verify firewall allows port 3000
  4. Check web.port in config.yaml

Database Issues

Symptom: Database errors or corruption.

Steps:

  1. Stop the bot
  2. Backup the database
  3. Try opening with SQLite viewer to check integrity
  4. If corrupted, restore from backup
  5. Consider enabling automatic backups
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