Installer

git clone https://github.com/Jacob-Stokes/monica-server-stack.git
cd monica-server-stack
./install.sh

Requires Linux with Docker and Compose 2.24 or newer, openssl and curl, run as a user that can use Docker. Putting the monica-stack command on the PATH needs root.

A full install, sped up.

What it asks

1. The account: email (the login), name, and password. A blank password generates one, shown once at the end.
2. Timezone and currency, guessed from the server, for the account's settings.
3. The address: this machine only, a domain with HTTPS (Caddy), Tailscale, a Cloudflare Tunnel, or an existing reverse proxy. See HTTPS.
4. Email, optional: an SMTP server for reminders. Without it, reminders are only logged.

It then writes .env (secrets generated), downloads the images, builds the MCP server, runs docker compose up -d, and waits for the setup container to create the account and the API token. The password is cleared from .env once the account exists.

At the end it prints Monica's address, the login, the MCP endpoint and the start of its bearer token, and offers to put a monica-stack command on the PATH (/usr/local/bin).

Running ./install.sh again on an existing install repairs it: missing secrets are generated, nothing that's set is changed, and the account isn't asked for again.

Without questions

For scripts and CI, --yes takes defaults for anything not given as an option:

export MONICA_PW='a-long-password'
./monica-stack install --yes \
  --email ada@example.com --name "Ada Lovelace" --password-env MONICA_PW \
  --tz Europe/London --currency GBP --https none

Option	For
--email, --name	The account
--password-env VAR	The account's password, from an environment variable (never on the command line)
--tz, --currency	The account's timezone and currency
--https none\|caddy\|tailscale\|cloudflare\|proxy	The address
--domain, --acme-email	Caddy, and the Cloudflare Tunnel's hostname
--url	The public URL, behind an existing reverse proxy
--ts-hostname	The machine name on the tailnet

Secrets for HTTPS come from the environment: TS_AUTHKEY for Tailscale, CF_TUNNEL_TOKEN for a Cloudflare Tunnel.

Running a second copy

Set INSTANCE_PREFIX (e.g. test-) and different MONICA_BIND and MCP_BIND in its .env before installing:

cp .env.example .env
sed -i 's/^INSTANCE_PREFIX=.*/INSTANCE_PREFIX=test-/; s/^MONICA_BIND=.*/MONICA_BIND=127.0.0.1:8180/; s/^MCP_BIND=.*/MCP_BIND=127.0.0.1:7111/' .env
./install.sh

Its containers get the prefix, and its command is monica-stack-test.