Hydra Server

A backend service for the Hydra for Reddit app. Using a custom server will unlock all Hydra Pro features for free. If you have the knowhow to get this set up, please consider contributing your skills to the project!

Features

• 🔔 Reddit message monitoring with push notifications
• 📱 Mobile app integration via Expo push notifications
• 💳 Subscription management with RevenueCat
• 🤖 AI-powered features using Groq API
• 📊 Admin dashboard for monitoring and management
• 🗄️ SQLite database with Drizzle ORM
• ⚡ Built with Bun for fast performance

Setup Instructions

There are two ways to set up the server: Docker Compose or Manual Setup.

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Docker Compose Setup

This method uses Docker to build and run the application in a container without needing to clone the repository yourself.

Prerequisites

• Docker
• Docker Compose

1. Create the compose.yaml file

Copy the compose.yaml file or the following codeblock below:

services:
  hydra-server:
    build:
      context: https://github.com/dmilin1/hydra-server.git
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/app/config
      - ./data:/data
    restart: unless-stopped
    env_file:
      - .env
    environment:
      - IS_CUSTOM_SERVER=true

2. Create the .env file

# Get your API key from https://console.groq.com/keys
GROQ_API_KEY=your_groq_api_key_here 
# Generate a key with `openssl rand -hex 32`
ENCRYPTION_KEY=your_32_byte_encryption_key_here
# Set a strong password to access the dashboard
DASHBOARD_PASSWORD=your_secure_dashboard_password
IS_CUSTOM_SERVER=true

Environment Variables

Variable	Default Value	Remarks
GROQ_API_KEY	---	GROQ API Key for AI features. Only needed if AI_PROVIDER is "groq" (optional)
ENCRYPTION_KEY	---	Generate with openssl rand -hex 32 (required)
DASHBOARD_PASSWORD	---	Password to access dashboard (required)
IS_CUSTOM_SERVER	---	Must be set to true for self hosted server (required)
AI_PROVIDER	groq	Specify the AI provider to use for post/comments summary, database query and posts filtering (optional)

Below environment variables need to be set only if AI_PROVIDER is set to openai

Variable	Default Value	Remarks
OPENAI_BASE_URL	https://api.openai.com/v1	Base URL for OpenAI.
OPENAI_API_KEY	---	OpenAI API key. (optional)
OPENAI_SUMMARY_MODEL	gpt-4.1-mini	Model used for posts/comments summary. Must be supported by provider.
OPENAI_QUERY_MODEL	gpt-4.1-mini	Model used for database query. Must be supported by provider.
OPENAI_FILTER_MODEL	gpt-4.1-mini	Model used for posts filtering. Must be supported by provider.

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Manual Setup

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/dmilin1/hydra-server.git
cd hydra-server

2. Install Dependencies

Install backend and frontend dependencies:

bun install
cd frontend
bun install
cd ..

Environment Configuration

Create a .env file in the root directory with the following variables:

# Get your API key from https://console.groq.com/keys
GROQ_API_KEY=your_groq_api_key_here 
# Generate a key with `openssl rand -hex 32`
ENCRYPTION_KEY=your_32_byte_encryption_key_here
# Set a strong password to access the dashboard
DASHBOARD_PASSWORD=your_secure_dashboard_password

IS_CUSTOM_SERVER=true

4. Build the Frontend

cd frontend
bun run build
cd ..

5. Running the Server

bun run start

The server will start on http://localhost:3000.

Accessing the Dashboard

Once the server is running (either via Docker or manually), open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000. You'll be prompted to enter the dashboard password you set in your .env file.

Connecting to Hydra App

Navigate to Settings => Advanced => Use Custom Server. Enable it and enter the public IP or domain where you are hosting the server. If hosted at home, you will likely need to set up a reverse proxy or port forwarding for port 3000. For example: http://your_public_ip:3000.

Enable auto-start on Boot

If running on a debian distro the following commands allow the server to auto run on startup:

Create a systemd service file

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/hydra-server.service

Enter the following code into the service:

[Unit]
Description=Hydra Server Bun Script
After=network.target

[Service]
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/hydra-server
ExecStart=/home/pi/.bun/bin/bun run start
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
Environment=PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/home/pi/.bun/bin

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then reload and enable the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable hydra-server.service

Then run the following to start and check the service:

sudo systemctl start hydra-server.service
sudo systemctl status hydra-server.service

The service should now auto-start on boot.