Reactive Resume with Docker Compose

What Reactive Resume needs

Only figures Reactive Resume's own documentation publishes, each linked to the page it is on. Where the project gives no number, this page does not invent one.

On top of this, Caddy (the reverse proxy in the file) is a single small container. Reactive Resume itself runs as 2 containers: reactive-resume-postgres, reactive-resume.

Which hardware Reactive Resume has images for

Read from each image's manifest list in its registry (anonymous, read-only) when this page was built. An app counts for a CPU only if every one of its images lists it.

• x86-64 PC or NAS (linux/amd64): every image has a build.
• Raspberry Pi 4/5, 64-bit OS (linux/arm64): every image has a build.
• Raspberry Pi 3 or Zero 2 W, 32-bit OS (linux/arm/v7): no image for reactive-resume. No image for this hardware; the builder leaves the app out.

A manifest says an image exists for a CPU, not how well Reactive Resume runs on it: a build for arm64 or arm/v7 can still be too slow or need more memory than the board has. The RAM and disk Reactive Resume publishes are in the table above and, for a whole set of apps against a Raspberry Pi, on Will it run on my machine?. A tag like latest can move to a new digest after the date checked.

docker-compose.yml

This is exactly what the builder writes for Reactive Resume alone on example.org: the official definition with its published ports removed and Caddy added in front. The time zone is Etc/UTC here; the builder uses your browser's. Every ${VARIABLE} is defined in the .env below.

# docker-compose.yml built at dankhost.com for: Reactive Resume
# Each app block is its official compose definition. Only the names were prefixed with
# the app slug (services, containers, volumes, bind folders, .env variables) so any set of
# apps can share one file; other differences are listed under "Changed:" in each block.
# Only Caddy publishes ports. Secrets live in .env next to this file.

services:
  # ---- Caddy: the one reverse proxy, HTTPS certificates from Let's Encrypt ----
  # Source: https://caddyserver.com/docs/running (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Source: https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/wiki/Using-Docker-Compose (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Caddyfile goes in ./caddy/Caddyfile. Fixed address 172.30.0.2 so apps can trust it exactly.
  caddy:
    image: "caddy:2"
    container_name: "caddy"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "443:443/udp"
    volumes:
      - "./caddy:/etc/caddy"
      - "caddy-data:/data"
      - "caddy-config:/config"
    networks:
      proxy:
        ipv4_address: "172.30.0.2"

  # ---- Reactive Resume (resume.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://github.com/reactive-resume/reactive-resume/blob/main/docs/self-hosting/docker.mdx (checked 2026-10-01)
  # Source: https://github.com/docker-library/postgres/blob/master/17/bookworm/Dockerfile (checked 2026-10-01)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '3000:3000' port; Caddy reaches reactive-resume:3000 on the proxy network.
  #          env_file: .env is replaced by the three variables the docs mark as required, written under environment: APP_URL is https://resume.example.org (the docs: "If behind a reverse proxy, set this to your public HTTPS URL"), DATABASE_URL points at the postgres service, and AUTH_SECRET is a generated 64-character hex value, the length of the docs' openssl rand -hex 32. TZ is the time zone you pick. The optional SMTP, S3, OAuth and AI variables of the docs' .env are left out: unset, emails are written to the server log and uploads stay in ./data, as the docs describe.
  #          The example password 'postgres' is a generated value in .env, used in POSTGRES_PASSWORD and in DATABASE_URL.
  #          The healthcheck fetches http://reactive-resume:3000/api/health, the container's own service name, instead of 127.0.0.1: the same server, written this way so that no page here carries an IP-address URL.
  #          The database volume is mounted at /var/lib/postgresql/data instead of the documented /var/lib/postgresql. postgres:17 keeps its data in /var/lib/postgresql/data and declares that path a VOLUME in its Dockerfile, so a volume mounted one level up leaves the data in an anonymous volume, which a later docker compose down and up does not reattach.
  reactive-resume-postgres:
    image: "postgres:17"
    container_name: "reactive-resume-postgres"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: "postgres"
      POSTGRES_USER: "postgres"
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "${REACTIVE_RESUME_POSTGRES_PASSWORD}"
    volumes:
      - "reactive-resume-postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
    healthcheck:
      test:
        - "CMD-SHELL"
        - "pg_isready -U postgres -d postgres"
      interval: "10s"
      timeout: "5s"
      retries: 10
    networks:
      reactive-resume-backend:
        aliases:
          - "postgres"
  reactive-resume:
    image: "amruthpillai/reactive-resume:latest"
    container_name: "reactive-resume"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    environment:
      TZ: "Etc/UTC"
      APP_URL: "https://resume.example.org"
      DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://postgres:${REACTIVE_RESUME_POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@postgres:5432/postgres"
      AUTH_SECRET: "${REACTIVE_RESUME_AUTH_SECRET}"
    volumes:
      - "./reactive-resume/data:/app/data"
    depends_on:
      reactive-resume-postgres:
        condition: "service_healthy"
    healthcheck:
      test:
        - "CMD"
        - "node"
        - "-e"
        - "fetch('http://reactive-resume:3000/api/health').then((r) => { if (!r.ok) process.exit(1); }).catch(() => process.exit(1));"
      interval: "30s"
      timeout: "10s"
      retries: 3
    networks:
      proxy: {}
      reactive-resume-backend: {}

networks:
  # Pinned so the trusted-proxy address given to each app (172.30.0.2) is exact.
  # If "docker compose up" reports "Pool overlaps", change 172.30.0 here, in Caddy's
  # ipv4_address and in every trusted-proxy value to a free 172.x.0 range.
  proxy:
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: "172.30.0.0/24"
          ip_range: "172.30.0.128/25"
          gateway: "172.30.0.1"
  reactive-resume-backend:
    internal: true

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:
  reactive-resume-postgres_data:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for resume.example.org by itself once the DNS record points at your server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.

# Caddyfile built at dankhost.com. Save it as ./caddy/Caddyfile next to docker-compose.yml.
# Caddy gets and renews a Let's Encrypt certificate for each name below by itself,
# once the DNS records point at this server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.

# Reactive Resume
resume.example.org {
	reverse_proxy reactive-resume:3000
}

Already running nginx, Nginx Proxy Manager, Caddy or Traefik? The reverse-proxy settings Reactive Resume needs, for all four, each cited to Reactive Resume's own docs.

.env

The secrets are left blank here on purpose: a password printed on a public page is the same for everyone who copies it. The builder fills them with random letters and digits made in your browser.

# .env for Reactive Resume, from dankhost.com/app/reactive-resume/. Fill the blank secrets before starting.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).

# Reactive Resume
# 32 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
REACTIVE_RESUME_POSTGRES_PASSWORD=
# 64 random letters and digits: the builder fills this in your browser
REACTIVE_RESUME_AUTH_SECRET=

Changes from the official file

Besides prefixing every service, container, volume, folder and variable with reactive-resume (so any set of apps can share one file), these are all the differences from what the project documents:

• Removed the documented '3000:3000' port; Caddy reaches reactive-resume:3000 on the proxy network.
• env_file: .env is replaced by the three variables the docs mark as required, written under environment: APP_URL is https://resume.example.org (the docs: "If behind a reverse proxy, set this to your public HTTPS URL"), DATABASE_URL points at the postgres service, and AUTH_SECRET is a generated 64-character hex value, the length of the docs' openssl rand -hex 32. TZ is the time zone you pick. The optional SMTP, S3, OAuth and AI variables of the docs' .env are left out: unset, emails are written to the server log and uploads stay in ./data, as the docs describe.
• The example password 'postgres' is a generated value in .env, used in POSTGRES_PASSWORD and in DATABASE_URL.
• The healthcheck fetches http://reactive-resume:3000/api/health, the container's own service name, instead of 127.0.0.1: the same server, written this way so that no page here carries an IP-address URL.
• The database volume is mounted at /var/lib/postgresql/data instead of the documented /var/lib/postgresql. postgres:17 keeps its data in /var/lib/postgresql/data and declares that path a VOLUME in its Dockerfile, so a volume mounted one level up leaves the data in an anonymous volume, which a later docker compose down and up does not reattach.

Notes for Reactive Resume behind the proxy

• Open https://resume.example.org and create your account. Sign-up stays open to anyone who reaches the address until you add FLAG_DISABLE_SIGNUPS: "true" under reactive-resume's environment and run docker compose up -d.
• Before the first start: mkdir -p ./reactive-resume/data. Uploads such as profile pictures are kept there, because no S3 storage is set.
• On every start the server runs its database migrations before it serves; the docs say to wait for PostgreSQL, the migrations and the app health check (docker compose ps shows healthy) before opening the page.
• From v5.1.0 PDFs are made in the browser, so no Browserless or Chromium service is needed.
• The docs' tags are 'latest' for the app and '17' for PostgreSQL.

Back it up

Reactive Resume's docs: back up both places it keeps data, the PostgreSQL database (with pg_dump) and the uploads in ./data, and test restores for both.

Below is the BACKUP.md the builder writes next to the compose file above: which of its folders and volumes hold data, the dump command the project documents, rewritten for this file's service names, what to copy with which container stopped, and a restore check. Pick more apps in the builder and it covers them all in one file.

# BACKUP.md built at dankhost.com for: Reactive Resume

What to copy from the docker-compose.yml built with this file, the database dump each project documents (rewritten for the service names in that file), what to copy with which container stopped, and how to check the result. Run every command in the folder that holds docker-compose.yml.

The folders are owned by the containers' users: put sudo in front of tar if it says "Permission denied". Named volumes live under /var/lib/docker/volumes, not next to the compose file, so they are copied through a throwaway ubuntu container (Docker's documented --volumes-from method). tar makes a full copy each run; for large folders an incremental tool (restic, borg, rsync) saves time and space.

Never run "docker compose down -v" on this file: it deletes the named volumes of every app in it.

## Before you start

    BACKUP=/mnt/backup/selfhost   # change this: a disk or machine other than this server's system disk
    mkdir -p "$BACKUP"

## Every time: the three stack files

    tar czf "$BACKUP/stack-files.tar.gz" docker-compose.yml .env caddy

.env holds the database passwords and secret keys the apps were set up with; keep this archive as private as the data.

## Caddy (the reverse proxy)

Caddy's docs: 'The data directory must not be treated as a cache.' It holds the TLS certificates and their private keys; without it Caddy has to ask Let's Encrypt for every certificate again.

- caddy-data (named volume, /data in caddy)
  BACK UP: TLS certificates, private keys, OCSP staples.
- caddy-config (named volume, /config in caddy)
  SKIP: the last active configuration, kept for 'caddy run --resume', which this setup does not use: it starts from the Caddyfile.
- ./caddy (/etc/caddy in caddy)
  IN stack-files.tar.gz: the Caddyfile, copied with the stack files above.

Copy (Caddy keeps serving while you copy):

    docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/caddy-data.tar /data

Restore check:

    tar tf "$BACKUP/caddy-data.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK
    docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /data && tar xvf /backup/caddy-data.tar --strip 1"

Sources:
- Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory: https://caddyserver.com/docs/conventions#data-directory (checked 2026-09-24)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-09-24)

## Reactive Resume

Reactive Resume's docs: back up both places it keeps data, the PostgreSQL database (with pg_dump) and the uploads in ./data, and test restores for both.

What this compose mounts:
- reactive-resume-postgres_data (named volume, /var/lib/postgresql/data in reactive-resume-postgres)
  COVERED BY THE COMMAND BELOW: PostgreSQL data files: accounts and resumes. Copy them only with the database stopped.
- ./reactive-resume/data (/app/data in reactive-resume)
  BACK UP: uploaded files (pictures), stored here because S3 is not configured.

1. Database dump for reactive-resume-postgres:

    docker compose exec -T reactive-resume-postgres pg_dump -U postgres postgres > "$BACKUP/reactive-resume.sql"

   The docs name pg_dump; this is its plain form for the postgres database and user, run through docker compose with -T so no terminal is attached to the redirect.

2. Copy (Reactive Resume keeps running):
   pg_dump is consistent while Reactive Resume runs: the dump is a snapshot of the database at the moment it started (PostgreSQL docs).

    tar czf "$BACKUP/reactive-resume-data.tar.gz" ./reactive-resume/data

Restore check:

    grep -c 'PostgreSQL database dump complete' "$BACKUP/reactive-resume.sql"   # 1 means pg_dump finished
    tar tzf "$BACKUP/reactive-resume-data.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with Reactive Resume stopped):

    tar xzf "$BACKUP/reactive-resume-data.tar.gz"   # recreates ./reactive-resume/data; move the old folder aside first

Restore the database before the app starts, so its migrations run against your data:

    docker compose up -d reactive-resume-postgres
    docker compose exec -T reactive-resume-postgres psql -U postgres postgres < "$BACKUP/reactive-resume.sql"

Put ./reactive-resume/data back, then:

    docker compose up -d

Sources:
- Reactive Resume docs: Self-hosting with Docker (requirements, compose.yml, .env, environment variables, updating, backups): https://github.com/reactive-resume/reactive-resume/blob/main/docs/self-hosting/docker.mdx (checked 2026-10-01)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-10-01)

Update it

What docker compose pull does depends only on how each image line in the compose file above is tagged. For Reactive Resume as this page writes it:

What Reactive Resume's docs say about updating

Reactive Resume's docs: back up the database and uploads first, then pull only the app image (docker compose pull reactive-resume), recreate only the app container (docker compose up -d --no-deps reactive-resume) and follow its log while the migrations run. If a migration fails, restore from the backup. PostgreSQL is updated separately.

• The app tag is latest, so a pull moves to the newest release. postgres:17 stays on major version 17.

Source: Reactive Resume docs: Self-hosting with Docker (requirements, compose.yml, .env, environment variables, updating, backups) checked 2026-10-01

The steps

1. Back up first, as in Back it up above. An update can migrate Reactive Resume's data on its first start and its database with it; the copy is the way back.
2. Download the new images. Running containers are not touched yet:

   docker compose pull

3. Recreate the containers whose image changed. Volumes and bind-mounted folders stay as they are:

   docker compose up -d

4. Watch Reactive Resume start (Ctrl+C stops following the log, not the app):

   docker compose logs -f reactive-resume

5. Optional: remove the old images the pull left without a tag. This covers every stack on the machine, not only this one:

   docker image prune

Docker's reference for these commands: Docker docs: docker compose pull checked 2026-09-30; Docker docs: docker compose up (recreates changed containers, keeps volumes) checked 2026-09-30; Docker docs: docker image prune checked 2026-09-30

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• Reactive Resume on GitHub (repository description) checked 2026-10-01 (what it does)
• Reactive Resume docs: Self-hosting with Docker (requirements, compose.yml, .env, environment variables, updating, backups) checked 2026-10-01 (hardware requirements, compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan, update notes)
• docker-library/postgres: the 17 Dockerfile (ENV PGDATA /var/lib/postgresql/data; VOLUME /var/lib/postgresql/data) checked 2026-10-01 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Caddy docs: Keep Caddy running (Docker Compose section) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
• Vaultwarden wiki: Caddy with HTTP challenge (uses the caddy:2 image) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
• Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-10-01 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
• PostgreSQL docs: Upgrading a PostgreSQL Cluster checked 2026-09-30 (database upgrade)
• Docker docs: docker compose pull checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)
• Docker docs: docker compose up (recreates changed containers, keeps volumes) checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)
• Docker docs: docker image prune checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)

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