Frequently asked questions

Short answers to the questions people ask before self-hosting The Desk. Most link to the fuller docs.

Is it really free?

Yes. The Desk is MIT-licensed and free forever. There’s no per-seat pricing, no paywalled features, and no “open core” edition held back — because there’s no company to pay. Members, message history, and file storage are bounded only by your own disk.

What do I need to run it?

• A Linux host with Docker Engine 24+ and the Compose plugin.
• A domain name and a TLS-terminating reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy, Traefik…) in front of the stack — HTTPS is your responsibility; the containers speak plain HTTP.
• Working SMTP credentials for invitations (and optional email verification).

See Requirements for the full list.

How much server does it need?

The Desk is modest. A small 2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM VPS comfortably hosts a team; scale up as message volume and the search index grow. See the Architecture reference for what each service does.

How do I back it up?

Everything lives in PostgreSQL and a few Docker volumes (uploads and the Meilisearch index). Back up the Postgres database and those volumes on your normal schedule and you can restore the whole instance. The Architecture reference lists exactly what runs and where state lives.

Can people sign up themselves, or is it invite-only?

Both — you choose. Open registration is controlled by the REGISTRATION_ENABLED toggle. Turn it off and the workspace is invitation-only. You can also require email verification.

Is there a mobile app?

Not yet. The web app is fully responsive and works well in a mobile browser, but there’s no dedicated iOS/Android app or mobile push notifications today.

Does it support file attachments, voice, or video?

File & image attachments are in active development but not shipped as of v1.0.0. Voice and video calls are not on the near-term roadmap. If you need those now, see the comparison page.

Does it support SSO, OIDC, or LDAP?

Not today — single sign-on and directory-managed users are on the roadmap but not available in v1.0.0. If your organization requires them now, a larger platform is the safer choice for the moment. See the comparison.

How do upgrades work?

Upgrades are tag-based — you move to a new release tag and pull. Database migrations and version-scoped search reindexing run automatically. See Upgrading for the exact steps.

Is my data private?

Yes — that’s the point. The Desk is self-hosted, so your messages never leave your server. There’s no SaaS middleman, no analytics phoning home, and every user can export their own data at any time. It’s your database either way.

What’s the tech stack?

Laravel 13, Inertia + Vue 3, Laravel Reverb (WebSockets), PostgreSQL, Meilisearch, and Redis — all in one compose file behind a FrankenPHP app image. The full picture is in the Architecture reference.