Installation Guide

Documentation

Installation guide

Deploy ThinCMS on a VPS, Vercel, Docker, or your local machine. Every option uses the same codebase and the same SQLite database — pick the environment that fits your workflow.

Choose your path

Deployment options

Recommended

VPS deployment

Full control on any Ubuntu, Debian, or similar Linux server. Best for agencies managing multiple client sites. Predictable monthly cost.

Serverless

Vercel deployment

Zero-config deployment with automatic builds and preview URLs. Great for solo sites and developer portfolios. Note: persistent SQLite requires additional configuration.

Containerized

Docker deployment

Consistent environments across dev, staging, and production. Works with Docker Compose, Kubernetes, or any container orchestrator.

Development

Local development

Run ThinCMS on your local machine for theme development, plugin testing, or learning the system. Quick setup with hot reloading.

Option 1

VPS deployment

A VPS gives you full control over the environment. ThinCMS runs well on minimal hardware — a $5–10/month server is more than enough for most single-site installations. Agency installations serving 10–50 sites typically need 2–4 GB of RAM.

System requirements

Component	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	1 vCPU	2 vCPU
RAM	512 MB	1–4 GB
Disk	1 GB + media	10 GB SSD
OS	Ubuntu 20.04+	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
Node.js	18.x	20.x LTS

Step-by-step

      # Install Node.js 20 LTS

      $ curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -

      $ sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

      # Clone and install

      $ git clone https://github.com/thincms/thincms.git /opt/thincms

      $ cd /opt/thincms

      $ npm install --production

      # Configure environment

      $ cp .env.example .env

      $ nano .env  # Set THINCMS_API_KEY and other options

      # Initialize database and build

      $ npx prisma db push

      $ npm run build

      # Start with PM2 (recommended process manager)

      $ npm install -g pm2

      $ pm2 start npm --name "thincms" -- start

      $ pm2 save

      $ pm2 startup

We recommend using Nginx or Caddy as a reverse proxy for SSL termination and static file serving. Caddy is the simplest option — it handles HTTPS automatically.

Caddy reverse proxy config

      yoursite.com {

        reverse_proxy localhost:3000

      }

Option 2

Vercel deployment

Vercel provides the fastest path to a live ThinCMS site. Push to GitHub and Vercel builds and deploys automatically. Note that persistent SQLite on serverless requires a solution like Turso or LiteFS — see the notes below.

      # Install Vercel CLI

      $ npm install -g vercel

      # Deploy from your project directory

      $ vercel

      # Set environment variables

      $ vercel env add THINCMS_API_KEY

Important: SQLite on serverless

Vercel's serverless functions don't have persistent filesystems. For production use, you'll need a persistent SQLite solution like Turso (SQLite-compatible edge database) or deploy to Vercel with a VPS-hosted database. For development and preview deployments, the default SQLite file works fine.

Option 3

Docker deployment

Docker provides consistent environments across all stages. The included Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml handle everything.

Using Docker Compose

      # Clone and start

      $ git clone https://github.com/thincms/thincms.git

      $ cd thincms

      $ cp .env.example .env

      $ docker compose up -d

The SQLite database file is stored in a named volume, so your data persists across container restarts and rebuilds.

docker-compose.yml

      version: "3.8"

      services:

        thincms:

          build: .

          ports:

            - "3000:3000"

          volumes:

            - thincms-data:/app/prisma

            - thincms-uploads:/app/public/uploads

          env_file: .env

          restart: unless-stopped

      volumes:

        thincms-data:

        thincms-uploads:

Option 4

Local development

For theme development, content experimentation, or just getting familiar with ThinCMS. Follow the Getting Started guide — the development server includes hot reloading so changes appear instantly.

      $ git clone https://github.com/thincms/thincms.git

      $ cd thincms

      $ npm install

      $ cp .env.example .env

      $ npx prisma db push

      $ npm run dev

Configuration

Environment variables

ThinCMS is configured via environment variables. Here are the key settings.

Variable	Required	Description
THINCMS_API_KEY	Yes	Authentication key for REST API and MCP server
DATABASE_URL	No	SQLite file path (default: file:./prisma/dev.db)
NEXTAUTH_SECRET	Prod	Secret for session encryption in production
NEXTAUTH_URL	Prod	Your site's full URL (e.g., https://example.com)
PORT	No	Server port (default: 3000)

Maintenance

Backup and restore

Because ThinCMS uses SQLite, backups are as simple as copying a single file. No database dumps, no complex export scripts.

      # Backup

      $ cp prisma/dev.db backups/thincms-$(date +%Y%m%d).db

      # Restore

      $ cp backups/thincms-20260309.db prisma/dev.db

      $ pm2 restart thincms

For automated daily backups, a simple cron job works perfectly. Back up to a remote location (S3, rsync to another server) for disaster recovery.

Ready to build?

You've deployed ThinCMS. Now explore the full API to build custom integrations and workflows.

API Reference View Pricing