Self-Hosted
Self-hosting means operating your own InKCre instance: you choose where information is stored, which sources it collects, and which clients can access it. You also manage credentials, hosting availability, backups, and updates. This section is for users choosing that responsibility.
For the application-level introduction and access choices, start with Getting Started. Self-hosting is a separate User Guide topic: use the instance setup guide for a fork-based deployment, or Custom Self-Hosting for a step-by-step deployment on infrastructure you choose.
Choose a deployment path
| Path | What you manage | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Fork quick deployment: Neon + Render | Provider accounts and GitHub settings; the workflow initializes the database and deploys Core and PostgREST. | Render walkthrough |
| Fork quick deployment: Neon + Heroku | The same topology on Heroku, with its billing and runtime settings. | Heroku walkthrough |
| Custom deployment | PostgreSQL initialization, PostgREST, the Core Python process or container, and hosting operations on infrastructure you choose. | Custom guide |
Neon, Render, and Heroku are convenient deployment options, not product dependencies. Forking provides a ready-made deployment workflow; it is not required to run InKCre. Both quick deployments produce your own instance rather than access to a shared hosted account. Their sleeping compute plans need particular care if you want continuous collection.
From an empty instance to useful information
Follow Set Up a Self-Hosted Instance to deploy an instance, then return to the shared Getting Started path to connect, collect one source, find a saved item, and use it. The setup guide assumes basic technical familiarity but no InKCre development setup.
If you already operate a compatible instance, begin at connecting the CLI.