Self-hosting

The game server is one container with a data volume. A tunnel in front of it gives it a public HTTPS address without opening ports.

What you needCopy Anchor Link

• Docker with Compose.
• The game assets (artwork, sprites, icons, cries and the battle font). They are generated from PokeAPI by the data script and mounted read-only.
• A build of the TapIn web app pointed at your server's address.
• A Cloudflare account if you want a stable public hostname.

ComposeCopy Anchor Link

name: pokemon

services:
  server:
    image: pokemon-server:local
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: apps/pokemon-server/Dockerfile
    environment:
      PORT: "8790"
      DATA_DIR: /data
      ASSETS_DIR: /assets
      WEB_DIR: /web
    volumes:
      - pokemon-data:/data
      - ./assets:/assets:ro
      - ./web-dist:/web:ro
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:8790:8790"
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "-qO-", "http://127.0.0.1:8790/health"]
      interval: 10s

  tunnel:
    image: cloudflare/cloudflared:latest
    command: tunnel --no-autoupdate run
    environment:
      TUNNEL_TOKEN: ${TUNNEL_TOKEN}
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      server:
        condition: service_healthy

volumes:
  pokemon-data:

The server binds to localhost only; the tunnel is the way in. The SQLite database lives in the pokemon-data volume, so rebuilding the container keeps every trainer.

The tunnelCopy Anchor Link

1. In Cloudflare Zero Trust, create a named tunnel and copy its token into a .env file next to the compose file as TUNNEL_TOKEN. Keep that file out of version control.
2. Add a public hostname to the tunnel, for example play.example.com, pointing at http://server:8790.
3. docker compose up -d. The hostname serves the web app, the API and the WebSocket on one origin.

For a quick test without an account, cloudflared tunnel --url http://server:8790 prints a temporary address; it changes on every restart.

ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

DebuggingCopy Anchor Link

With POKEMON_DEBUG=1, opening the app with ?pokemonDebug=1 shows a button that sends debug-encounter. speciesId picks a species (or null for a random one), -1 spawns a legendary flyover and -2 sends Team Rocket. Without the flag the server answers debug-disabled.

GET /health returns the server's status as JSON; use it for container health checks and uptime monitors.