ɳTasks Self-Hosting Guide

ɳTasks Self-Hosting Guide — ɳSelf documentation.

ɳTasks is fully self-hostable for free. No paid license is required. All capabilities it needs (auth, storage, scheduled jobs, notifications) are covered by core services or free plugins.

The hosted alternative is task.nself.org — sign up for free with no setup.

What ɳTasks Needs

Capability	Provider	License
Database (Postgres 16)	Core — always included	Free
GraphQL API (Hasura)	Core — always included	Free
Auth (JWT, email+password, OAuth)	Core Auth service	Free
Object storage (file attachments)	MinIO optional service	Free
Scheduled tasks	`cron` free plugin	Free
Push / email notifications	`notify` free plugin	Free

No pro plugins. No license key.

App Surfaces

Surface	Framework	Hosted URL
Web	React + Vite	task.nself.org
Mobile	React Native + Expo	—
Desktop	Tauri 2	—
TV	react-native-tvos	—

Self-Host: Step by Step

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/nself-org/ntask
cd ntask

2. Copy and edit the env file

cp backend/.env.example backend/.env.dev

Open backend/.env.dev and set at minimum:

Variable	What to set
`BASE_DOMAIN`	Your domain (e.g. `tasks.example.com`) or `localhost` for local dev
`HASURA_GRAPHQL_ADMIN_SECRET`	A strong random secret
`NHOST_JWT_SECRET`	A random 32-char string
`POSTGRES_PASSWORD`	A strong random password

3. Build

cd backend
nself build

This generates backend/docker-compose.yml from your env file. The generated file is gitignored — do not commit it.

4. Start

nself start

Wait for all services to show healthy:

nself health

5. Enable optional free plugins

For scheduled tasks and notifications:

nself plugin install cron notify
nself build && nself restart

6. Enable object storage (file attachments)

nself service enable minio
nself build && nself restart

7. Get your service URLs

nself urls

This prints Hasura GraphQL URL, Auth URL, and storage URL. Copy these into the app configs below.

Connect the Apps

Mobile (React Native + Expo)

cd apps/mobile
pnpm install
pnpm start

Set your Hasura and Auth URLs in apps/mobile/.env (or app.config.ts depending on your Expo setup) using the values from nself urls.

Desktop (Tauri 2)

cd apps/desktop
pnpm install
pnpm dev

TV (react-native-tvos)

cd apps/tv
pnpm install
pnpm start

Local Dev Backend Quick Reference

Action	Command
Start backend	`cd backend && nself start`
Stop backend	`cd backend && nself stop`
Check health	`cd backend && nself health`
View logs	`cd backend && nself logs`
Hasura console	`cd backend && nself db hasura console`

Default local URLs after nself start:

Service	URL
Hasura GraphQL	`http://localhost:8080/v1/graphql`
Auth	`http://localhost:4000`
Storage (MinIO)	`http://localhost:8484`

Hosted Alternative

task.nself.org runs the same ɳTasks stack managed by nself Cloud. Free to use. No setup required.