Deployment Options

Install with Docker

You can install Bag of Words with a single docker command. By default, it will use SQLite as the database. You can also configure it to use PostgreSQL by passing BOW_DATABASE_URL environment variable.

docker run --pull always -d -p 3000:3000 bagofwords/bagofwords

To use PostgreSQL, you need to set the BOW_DATABASE_URL environment variable. For example: BOW_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/bagofwords

Update

Re-run the same docker run --pull always ... command to fetch and start the latest image.

Optionally, pull explicitly and restart:

docker pull bagofwords/bagofwords:latest
# stop/remove your existing container if needed, then start again
# docker stop <container_name> && docker rm <container_name>
docker run --pull always -d -p 3000:3000 bagofwords/bagofwords

Install with Docker Compose

Run Bag of Words with Docker Compose and Caddy (built-in TLS on port 443). We recommend using the canonical files from the repo to avoid drift:

docker-compose.yaml: https://github.com/bagofwords1/bagofwords/blob/main/docker-compose.yaml
Caddyfile: https://github.com/bagofwords1/bagofwords/blob/main/Caddyfile

Steps

Make sure Docker and Docker Compose are installed.

Clone the repo:

git clone https://github.com/bagofwords1/bagofwords
cd bagofwords

Create a .env file (for domain and credentials). Example:

# Domain used by Caddy for HTTPS (must resolve to your server's public IP)
DOMAIN=yourdomain.com

# PostgreSQL (use stronger values for production)
POSTGRES_USER=bow
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your_secure_pw
POSTGRES_DB=bagofwords

# Optional but recommended: encryption key (Fernet, 44 chars incl. '=')
# Generate with OpenSSL: openssl rand -base64 32 | tr '+/' '-_'
BOW_ENCRYPTION_KEY=

Generate BOW_ENCRYPTION_KEY with OpenSSL:

openssl rand -base64 32 | tr '+/' '-_'

Start services:
```
docker compose up -d
```
Point your domain to the server’s public IP:
- Create an A record for yourdomain.com → your instance public IP.
- Caddy will automatically obtain/renew the TLS certificate and serve on port 443.
Open https://yourdomain.com

Caddy is included by default as a reverse proxy on port 443. If you prefer to run without Caddy, remove the caddy service from docker-compose.yaml and expose the app directly on port 3000. For local, no-SSL testing, you can also use docker-compose.dev.yaml.

Update

# pull latest images and recreate containers
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Other configurations

You can also configure additional settings in the bow-config.yaml file.

# bow-config.yaml

# Deployment Configuration
base_url: http://0.0.0.0:3000

database:
  url: ${BOW_DATABASE_URL}

# Feature Flags
features:
  allow_uninvited_signups: false
  allow_multiple_organizations: false
  verify_emails: false

google_oauth:
  enabled: false
  client_id: ${BOW_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID}
  client_secret: ${BOW_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET}

smtp_settings:
  host: "smtp.resend.com"
  port: 587
  username: "resend"
  password: ${BOW_SMTP_PASSWORD}

encryption_key: ${BOW_ENCRYPTION_KEY}

intercom:
  enabled: true

To use the custom config file, you can run the following command:

docker run --pull always -d -p 3000:3000 -v $(pwd)/bow-config.yaml:/app/bow-config.yaml bagofwords/bagofwords

Install with Kubernetes

You can install Bag of Words on a Kubernetes cluster. The Helm chart can deploy the app with a bundled PostgreSQL instance or connect to an external managed database such as AWS Aurora with IAM authentication.

1. Add the Helm Repository

helm repo add bow https://helm.bagofwords.com/
helm repo update

2. Install or Upgrade the Chart

Here are a few examples of how to install or upgrade the Bag of Words Helm chart: Deploy with a bundled PostgreSQL instance:

helm upgrade -i --create-namespace \
 -nbowapp-1 bowapp bow/bagofwords \
 --set postgresql.auth.username=<PG-USER> \
 --set postgresql.auth.password=<PG-PASS> \
 --set postgresql.auth.database=<PG-DB>

Deploy without TLS with a custom hostname:

helm upgrade -i --create-namespace \
 -nbowapp-1 bowapp bow/bagofwords \
  --set host=<HOST> \
 --set postgresql.auth.username=<PG-USER> \
 --set postgresql.auth.password=<PG-PASS> \
 --set postgresql.auth.database=<PG-DB> \
 --set ingress.tls=false

Deploy with TLS, cert-manager, and Google OAuth:

helm upgrade -i --create-namespace \
 -nbowapp-1 bowapp bow/bagofwords \
 --set host=<HOST> \
 --set postgresql.auth.username=<PG-USER> \
 --set postgresql.auth.password=<PG-PASS> \
 --set postgresql.auth.database=<PG-DB> \
 --set config.googleOauthEnabled=true \
 --set config.googleClientId=<CLIENT_ID> \
 --set config.googleClientSecret=<CLIENT_SECRET>

Deploy with AWS Aurora and IAM Authentication

When using a managed database like AWS Aurora PostgreSQL, the chart skips the bundled PostgreSQL subchart and connects directly to your Aurora cluster. Passwords are never stored — short-lived IAM tokens are generated at runtime for every new database connection. Prerequisites:

An Aurora PostgreSQL cluster with IAM database authentication enabled
A database user created with: GRANT rds_iam TO <username>
An IAM role/policy with rds-db:connect permission
In EKS: an IRSA (IAM Roles for Service Accounts) annotation on the pod’s service account so the app can assume the IAM role

helm upgrade -i --create-namespace \
 -nbowapp-1 bowapp bow/bagofwords \
 --set host=<HOST> \
 --set database.auth.provider=aws_iam \
 --set database.auth.region=us-east-1 \
 --set database.auth.sslMode=require \
 --set database.host=<AURORA-CLUSTER-ENDPOINT> \
 --set database.port=5432 \
 --set database.username=<DB-USER> \
 --set database.name=<DB-NAME> \
 --set serviceAccount.annotations.'eks\.amazonaws\.com/role-arn'=arn:aws:iam::<ACCOUNT>:role/<ROLE-NAME>

Or use a values file:

# aurora-values.yaml
host: bow.example.com

database:
  auth:
    provider: aws_iam
    region: us-east-1
    sslMode: require
  host: my-cluster.cluster-xxx.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com
  port: 5432
  username: bow_user
  name: postgres

serviceAccount:
  name: bowapp
  annotations:
    eks.amazonaws.com/role-arn: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/bow-rds-role

config:
  encryptionKey: "<your-encryption-key>"
  baseUrl: "https://bow.example.com"

helm upgrade -i --create-namespace \
 -nbowapp-1 bowapp bow/bagofwords \
 -f aurora-values.yaml

When database.auth.provider is set to aws_iam, the bundled PostgreSQL subchart is automatically skipped. The app uses boto3 to call generate_db_auth_token() before each new connection, so tokens rotate automatically and no static database password is needed.

Update

# Restart the Bag of Words deployment(s) to pick up the latest image
# Adjust namespace (-n) and selector if you used different names
kubectl rollout restart deployment -n bowapp-1 -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=bowapp
kubectl rollout status deployment -n bowapp-1 -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=bowapp

AWS Aurora Configuration

Bag of Words supports connecting to AWS Aurora PostgreSQL using IAM database authentication. This eliminates static database passwords entirely — the application generates short-lived tokens (valid for 15 minutes) at connection time using AWS IAM.

How it works

The app’s service account assumes an IAM role (via IRSA in EKS, or instance profile on EC2)
On every new database connection, the app calls generate_db_auth_token() to get a temporary password
The token is used as the PostgreSQL password — established connections are not affected when it expires
SSL is required (require or verify-full)

AWS Setup

1. Enable IAM authentication on the Aurora cluster:

aws rds modify-db-cluster \
  --db-cluster-identifier <cluster-id> \
  --enable-iam-database-authentication \
  --apply-immediately

2. Create the database user with IAM grants:

CREATE USER bow_user;
GRANT rds_iam TO bow_user;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE postgres TO bow_user;

3. Create an IAM policy allowing rds-db:connect:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": "rds-db:connect",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:rds-db:<REGION>:<ACCOUNT>:dbuser:<DB-RESOURCE-ID>/<DB-USER>"
    }
  ]
}

4. For EKS — create an IRSA-enabled service account:

eksctl create iamserviceaccount \
  --name bowapp \
  --namespace bowapp-1 \
  --cluster <CLUSTER-NAME> \
  --attach-policy-arn arn:aws:iam::<ACCOUNT>:policy/bow-rds-connect \
  --approve

Then set the IRSA annotation in the Helm chart:

--set serviceAccount.annotations.'eks\.amazonaws\.com/role-arn'=arn:aws:iam::<ACCOUNT>:role/<ROLE-NAME>

bow-config.yaml for Aurora (non-Kubernetes)

If you are running Bag of Words on EC2 or ECS (not Kubernetes), you can configure Aurora IAM auth directly in bow-config.yaml:

database:
  host: "my-cluster.cluster-xxx.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com"
  port: 5432
  name: "postgres"
  username: "bow_user"
  auth:
    provider: "aws_iam"
    region: "us-east-1"
    ssl_mode: "require"

The EC2 instance or ECS task must have an IAM role with the rds-db:connect policy attached.

Google OAuth

To enable Google OAuth authentication, configure the following parameters in your bow config (or in env/k8s configmap):

google_oauth:
  enabled: true
  client_id: ${BOW_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID}
  client_secret: ${BOW_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET}

You should also set the following in your Google OAuth configurations:

Callback URL: https://yourbaseurl.com/api/auth/google/callback
Scopes: /auth/userinfo.email, /auth/userinfo.profile, openid
Enable People API

OpenID Connect (OIDC)

oidc_providers:
- name: okta
  enabled: true
  issuer: https://***********.okta.com/oauth2/default
  client_id: ${OKTA_CLIENT_ID}
  client_secret: ${OKTA_CLIENT_SECRET}
  scopes: ["openid", "profile", "email"]
  pkce: true
  client_auth_method: basic
  discovery: true
  uid_claim: sub

For Okta

Set a new OIDC application: web
Set callback URL https://your-base-bow-url.com/api/auth/okta/callback

Get Started

Core

Using Bag of words

Guides

Install with Docker

Update

Install with Docker Compose

Steps

Update

Other configurations

Install with Kubernetes

1. Add the Helm Repository

2. Install or Upgrade the Chart

Deploy with AWS Aurora and IAM Authentication

Update

AWS Aurora Configuration

How it works

AWS Setup

bow-config.yaml for Aurora (non-Kubernetes)

Google OAuth

OpenID Connect (OIDC)

For Okta

Get Started

Core

Using Bag of words

Guides

​Install with Docker

​Update

​Install with Docker Compose

​Steps

​Update

​Other configurations

​Install with Kubernetes

​1. Add the Helm Repository

​2. Install or Upgrade the Chart

​Deploy with AWS Aurora and IAM Authentication

​Update

​AWS Aurora Configuration

​How it works

​AWS Setup

​bow-config.yaml for Aurora (non-Kubernetes)

​Google OAuth

​OpenID Connect (OIDC)

​For Okta

Install with Docker

Update

Install with Docker Compose

Steps

Update

Other configurations

Install with Kubernetes

1. Add the Helm Repository

2. Install or Upgrade the Chart

Deploy with AWS Aurora and IAM Authentication

Update

AWS Aurora Configuration

How it works

AWS Setup

bow-config.yaml for Aurora (non-Kubernetes)

Google OAuth

OpenID Connect (OIDC)

For Okta