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+# StoatChat (Revolt backend fork) — Ubuntu Server Quickstart
+
+This stack builds the Rust services from your repo and launches all required infra in Docker.
+
+## Prereqs (Ubuntu 22.04/24.04)
+```bash
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release
+curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/docker.gpg
+echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture)] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release; echo $VERSION_CODENAME) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
+sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
+newgrp docker
+```
+
+## Layout
+Place the extracted source next to this folder:
+```
+/home/ubuntu/
+  stoatchat-main/          # the source you uploaded
+  stoatchat-deploy/        # this folder (compose + overrides)
+```
+
+## Build the backend image
+```bash
+cd ~/stoatchat-deploy
+docker compose build backend-build
+```
+
+## Bring everything up
+```bash
+docker compose up -d
+```
+
+Services:
+- API (autumn): http://YOUR_SERVER:14704
+- API (january): http://YOUR_SERVER:14705
+- API (gifbox): http://YOUR_SERVER:14706
+- MongoDB: mongodb://YOUR_SERVER:27017
+- Redis: redis://YOUR_SERVER:6379
+- MinIO Console: http://YOUR_SERVER:9001 (S3 API on :9000)
+- RabbitMQ Console: http://YOUR_SERVER:15672 (guest/guest by default)
+- MailDev: http://YOUR_SERVER:14080
+
+## Logs
+```bash
+docker compose logs -f autumn january gifbox pushd crond
+```
+
+## Health checks
+- Open MailDev to see verification emails.
+- Uploads should land in MinIO bucket **revolt-uploads** (the compose auto-creates it).
+- If APIs fail to bind, ensure ports 14704–14706 are free.
+
+## Optional: reverse proxy + TLS
+Put Caddy or Nginx in front and point domains at the internal services.
+Then set the URLs in `Revolt.overrides.toml` → `[hosts]` to your `https://` domains.
+
+## Rebuild after code changes
+```bash
+docker compose build backend-build && docker compose up -d --no-deps autumn january gifbox pushd crond
+```