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Why CapRover + Paperclip

CapRover gives you the managed platform experience on your own VPS. It handles nginx routing, Let's Encrypt SSL, Docker-based deployments, and environment variable management through a web dashboard. One CapRover instance can host Paperclip plus all your other apps.

Prerequisites

• A VPS with Ubuntu 20.04/22.04 (minimum 2 GB RAM, 1 GB for CapRover + 1 GB for Paperclip)
• A domain you control (for SSL)
• Root SSH access to the server

Step 1: Install CapRover

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP

# Install Docker first
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

# Install CapRover
docker run -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -p 3000:3000 \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -v /captain:/captain \
  caprover/caprover

Wait about 60 seconds for startup. Then access CapRover at http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3000.

Step 2: Configure CapRover

1. Open http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3000
2. Log in with default password: captain42 — change this immediately
3. Set up your root domain (e.g., caprover.yourdomain.com)

DNS configuration: Add a wildcard A record: *.caprover.yourdomain.com → YOUR_SERVER_IP

This lets CapRover create subdomains for each app automatically.

4. Enable HTTPS in CapRover settings → CapRover provides SSL for all apps automatically

Step 3: Create the Paperclip app

1. In CapRover dashboard, click Apps → New App
2. Name: paperclip
3. Click Create New App

Step 4: Configure the Paperclip app

1. Click on your paperclip app
2. Go to the App Configs tab
3. Set Container HTTP Port: 3100

Step 5: Set environment variables

In the App Configs tab, add:

NODE_ENV=production
PAPERCLIP_DATA_DIR=/data
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=your_random_secret_here
PAPERCLIP_LISTEN_PORT=3100
PAPERCLIP_LISTEN_HOST=0.0.0.0
PAPERCLIP_MIGRATION_AUTO_APPLY=true
PAPERCLIP_MIGRATION_PROMPT=never

Generate the secret: openssl rand -hex 32

Step 6: Add persistent storage

1. In App Configs, find Persistent Directories
2. Add: Path in container /data, Label paperclip-data
3. Save changes

This creates a Docker volume mounted at /data.

Step 7: Deploy Paperclip

Go to the Deployment tab and choose one of:

Option A: Deploy from GitHub:

1. Connect your GitHub repo with a captain-definition file and Dockerfile
2. CapRover auto-deploys on push

Option B: Deploy from Docker image: Point CapRover at a pre-built image.

Option C: Deploy with captain-definition + Dockerfile:

Create a Dockerfile:

FROM node:20-alpine
WORKDIR /app
RUN npm install -g paperclipai
RUN mkdir -p /data
EXPOSE 3100
CMD ["npx", "paperclipai", "server", "start", "--port", "3100", "--host", "0.0.0.0"]

Create captain-definition:

{
  "schemaVersion": 2,
  "dockerfilePath": "./Dockerfile"
}

Upload both files as a tar archive in the Deployment tab, or push to a connected Git repo.

Step 8: Enable HTTPS and custom domain

1. In your app settings, click Enable HTTPS
2. CapRover provisions a Let's Encrypt certificate
3. Optionally: add paperclip.yourdomain.com as a custom domain

Your Paperclip instance will be accessible at https://paperclip.caprover.yourdomain.com (or your custom domain).

Step 9: Access Paperclip

Open the assigned URL and complete the Paperclip admin setup wizard.

Updating Paperclip

Update the version in your Dockerfile and redeploy:

1. Edit the Dockerfile
2. Push to your connected Git repo (auto-deploys)
3. Or re-upload the tar archive in the Deployment tab

Multiple services with CapRover

CapRover handles routing and SSL for all your apps. Add more services without additional nginx configuration:

• paperclip.yourdomain.com → Paperclip
• plausible.yourdomain.com → Plausible Analytics
• ghost.yourdomain.com → Ghost blog
• n8n.yourdomain.com → n8n automation

All on the same $6–10/month VPS.

Monitoring in CapRover

CapRover shows basic resource usage in the dashboard. For more:

• Container logs: App → Logs tab
• System metrics: CapRover Dashboard → Monitoring (if NetData integration enabled)

Cost

• CapRover: Free (open source)
• VPS for CapRover + Paperclip: Hetzner CX22 at €4.51/month

Much cheaper than managed platforms. Railway gives you $20 free credit if you'd prefer not to manage CapRover.

This is an independent guide. Paperclip Hosting is not affiliated with the official Paperclip project. Guide steps are based on real deployments and are subject to change as the software evolves.