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Deployment Guide

Deploy Dexto agents using Docker for local or production environments.

Docker Deployment​

Quick Start​

  1. Build the Docker image

    docker build -t dexto .

  2. Create environment file

    # .env
    OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key
    ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key
    # Add other API keys as needed

  3. Run the container

    docker run --env-file .env -p 3001:3001 dexto

Your Dexto server will be available at http://localhost:3001 with:

  • ✅ SQLite database connected
  • ✅ MCP servers (filesystem & puppeteer) connected
  • ✅ REST API + SSE streaming endpoints available

Port Configuration​

By default, Dexto server mode runs on port 3001. Customize the port using the PORT environment variable or --api-port flag:

# Using environment variable
docker run --env-file .env -e PORT=8080 -p 8080:8080 dexto

# Using CLI flag (requires modifying Dockerfile CMD)
docker run --env-file .env -p 8080:8080 dexto --api-port 8080

For web mode (with UI), ports work differently:

  • Frontend (Web UI): port 3000 (customize with --web-port)
  • API Server: port 3001 (customize with --api-port or defaults to web-port + 1)
# Web mode with custom ports
docker run --env-file .env -p 3000:3000 -p 3001:3001 dexto --web-port 3000 --api-port 3001

Background Mode​

Run Dexto in detached mode:

# Start in background
docker run -d --name dexto-server --env-file .env -p 3001:3001 dexto

# View logs
docker logs -f dexto-server

# Stop server
docker stop dexto-server

Docker Compose​

For easier management:

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'
services:
  dexto:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3001:3001"
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - dexto_data:/app/.dexto
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  dexto_data:

Run with:

docker compose up --build

Production Setup​

Environment Variables​

# Production environment variables
NODE_ENV=production
PORT=3001
CONFIG_FILE=/app/configuration/dexto.yml

Persistent Storage​

Mount a volume for persistent data:

docker run -d \
  --name dexto-server \
  --env-file .env \
  -p 3001:3001 \
  -v dexto_data:/app/.dexto \
  dexto

Resource Limits​

Set memory and CPU limits:

docker run -d \
  --name dexto-server \
  --env-file .env \
  --memory=1g \
  --cpus=1 \
  -p 3001:3001 \
  dexto

API Endpoints​

Once deployed, your Dexto server provides:

REST API​

  • POST /api/message - Send async message
  • POST /api/message-sync - Send sync message
  • POST /api/reset - Reset conversation
  • GET /api/mcp/servers - List MCP servers
  • GET /health - Health check
  • And many more for sessions, LLM management, agents, webhooks, etc.

See the complete REST API Documentation for all available endpoints.

Server-Sent Events (SSE)​

  • Real-time events and streaming responses
  • Connect to http://localhost:3001/api/message-stream

See the SDK Events Reference for event types and usage.

Next Steps​

For more detailed information on configuring agents, refer to the Dexto Configuration Guide.

Building with the Dexto SDK for TypeScript​

For custom builds and advanced integration, you can use the Dexto SDK Guide to bundle Dexto into your own applications.

For a complete technical reference, see the API Reference.

Hosting Options​