Deployment Overview

This guide covers deploying Codex in various environments, from simple homelab setups to production Kubernetes clusters.

Deployment Options

Deployment Type	Database	Best For	Scaling
Docker Compose	PostgreSQL	Production, Multi-user	Single host
Kubernetes	PostgreSQL	Enterprise, High Availability	Horizontal
Systemd Service	Either	Dedicated server	None
Binary + SQLite	SQLite	Homelab, Single-user	None

Understanding Limitations

Before choosing a deployment strategy, understand these architectural considerations.

SQLite Limitations

SQLite is excellent for simple setups but has constraints:

Limitation	Impact	Recommendation
Single writer	Only one write operation at a time	Use PostgreSQL for multi-user
No horizontal scaling	Cannot run multiple Codex instances	Use PostgreSQL for scaling
Limited concurrency	Performance degrades with many users	Limit to ~5-10 concurrent users
No distributed workers	Workers must run in same process	Use combined serve mode

SQLite Worker Limitation

With SQLite, you cannot run separate worker processes. The background task workers must run within the same process as the web server. Use codex serve which includes both the API server and workers.

Running codex worker separately with SQLite will cause database locking issues and is not supported.

PostgreSQL Advantages

PostgreSQL enables:

• Multiple concurrent users
• Horizontal scaling (multiple Codex instances)
• Separate worker processes
• Better performance under load
• LISTEN/NOTIFY for real-time cross-process events

Server-Sent Events (SSE) Considerations

SSE streams require special handling in certain deployments:

Deployment	SSE Behavior	Notes
Single instance	Works perfectly	All events delivered instantly
Multiple instances	Works with PostgreSQL	Events replayed via LISTEN/NOTIFY
Behind proxy	Requires configuration	Disable buffering, set timeouts
SQLite + Workers	Not supported	Cannot separate workers

Quick Start

Docker (Recommended)

docker pull ghcr.io/ashdevfr/codex:latest
docker compose --profile prod up -d
docker compose exec codex codex seed --config /app/config/config.docker.yaml

Binary

# Install the latest release for Linux/macOS
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/AshDevFr/codex/releases/latest/download/codex-installer.sh | sh

# Configure and run
cp codex.example.yaml codex.yaml
codex serve --config codex.yaml

For Windows, see the PowerShell installer in the Getting Started guide.

In This Section

• Docker Deployment - Docker Compose setup for development and production
• Kubernetes Deployment - Horizontal scaling with K8s
• Systemd Service - Traditional Linux server deployment
• Reverse Proxy - Nginx, Caddy, and Traefik configuration
• Database Setup - PostgreSQL and SQLite configuration
• Security & Operations - Security, monitoring, and backups