The "Active WebUI" card (Settings > Web Applications) only showed
description and __APP_VERSION__, never the resourceUrl it's actually
built from — add it as a linked "Source" row.
That card also turned out to be misleading in local dev: it reads the
x:Application record whose urlPrefix matches /admin or /account, and a
freshly bootstrapped server keeps Stalwart's seeded default there
("Stalwart Web Interface", pointing at stalwartlabs/webui's release),
regardless of what's actually being served — in dev that's this fork,
served directly by Vite, which never touches that record at all.
dev-server-init.sh/.ps1 now point that record's description and
resourceUrl at this fork's own release, so the card (now including the
visible Source URL) reflects what's actually running instead of
Stalwart's factory default.
Verified end-to-end against a fresh container with both scripts.
163 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
163 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
# Development
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How to run a local Stalwart test server and develop this WebUI against it.
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This file is meant to be read by humans and AI coding agents alike — see
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[AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) for the rules that also apply while doing this.
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## Prerequisites
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- Node.js 18+
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- Docker (with the `docker compose` CLI plugin)
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## 1. Start a local test server
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```bash
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npm run dev:server
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```
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This runs `docker compose up -d`, which starts a disposable Stalwart
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instance ([`docker-compose.yml`](docker-compose.yml)) with:
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- The management/JMAP HTTP API on `http://localhost:8080` (the only port
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the WebUI dev proxy needs — see `server.proxy` in
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[`vite.config.ts`](vite.config.ts)).
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- Mail protocol ports (SMTP/IMAP/POP3/ManageSieve) exposed too, only
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needed if you're testing actual mail flows, not just admin UI screens.
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- A fixed admin account baked in via `STALWART_RECOVERY_ADMIN`:
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`admin@example.org` / `c8321iEscHDy0GWV`. **Disposable dev credentials
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only — never reuse them for anything real.**
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- Named Docker volumes (`stalwart-etc`, `stalwart-data`) so data survives
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a restart. Data persists until you tear the volumes down.
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Useful companions:
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```bash
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npm run dev:server:logs # tail the container's logs
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npm run dev:server:down # stop it (add `-v` via `docker compose down -v` to also wipe data)
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```
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The server takes a couple of seconds to come up; `docker compose logs stalwart`
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will show `Network listener started ... localPort = 8080` once it's ready.
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## 2. Initialize the server (first time only)
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The container starts in Stalwart's bootstrap mode, which only allows
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signing in as the break-glass `STALWART_RECOVERY_ADMIN` account — real
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accounts and most settings aren't usable yet. Run once per fresh volume:
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```bash
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# Windows / PowerShell
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pwsh ./scripts/dev-server-init.ps1
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# Linux / macOS / any POSIX shell (including most AI agent sandboxes)
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bash ./scripts/dev-server-init.sh
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```
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This completes the bootstrap wizard (default domain `example.org`, no TLS
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certificate request — safe for local/offline use), creates a real
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`devadmin@example.org` admin account, sets the server's default OAuth
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access token lifetime to 3 hours, and points the `x:Application` record
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serving `/admin`/`/account` at this fork's description and release URL
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(cosmetic — otherwise Settings > Web Applications' "Active WebUI" card
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shows Stalwart's default "Stalwart Web Interface" / upstream release URL,
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even though what's actually running is this fork served by Vite). It's
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idempotent — safe to re-run, it no-ops once the server is already
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bootstrapped. You only need to re-run it after `docker compose down -v`
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(which wipes the volumes).
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## 3. Get an access token
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For local development it's simpler to skip interactive login and use a
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bearer token directly via `VITE_ACCESS_TOKEN` (see `.env.development`).
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```bash
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# Windows / PowerShell
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pwsh ./scripts/dev-token.ps1 # 3 hour token (server default)
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pwsh ./scripts/dev-token.ps1 -DurationSeconds 1800 # custom duration (30 min)
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# Linux / macOS / any POSIX shell (including most AI agent sandboxes)
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bash ./scripts/dev-token.sh # 3 hour token
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bash ./scripts/dev-token.sh 1800 # custom duration (30 min)
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```
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Both scripts authenticate as the `devadmin` account created in step 2 and
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create a Stalwart API key with the requested expiry (default 3 hours,
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overridable per invocation — this is a genuine per-request duration, not
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a global setting), then write its secret to `.env.development.local`
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(gitignored, never committed) as `VITE_ACCESS_TOKEN`. Re-run the script
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and restart `npm run dev` once the token expires (the UI starts returning
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401s).
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The `STALWART_RECOVERY_ADMIN` account is intentionally not used here: it's
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a break-glass credential and its tokens always expire in a fixed 1 hour
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regardless of server configuration, so it can't honor a custom duration.
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## 4. Run the WebUI
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```bash
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npm install # first time only
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npm run dev
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```
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Open `http://localhost:5173`. You should land directly in the admin panel
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(no login screen) since `VITE_ACCESS_TOKEN` is set.
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## 5. Verify your change
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```bash
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npm run typecheck
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npm run lint
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npm test
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npm run build
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```
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For UI changes, actually look at the running app (browser or a browser
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automation tool) — passing typecheck/lint/tests proves the code compiles
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and existing behavior didn't regress, it doesn't prove the new UI works.
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## Resetting the test server
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To start from a completely clean server (e.g. to re-test first-run
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behavior):
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```bash
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npm run dev:server:down
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docker compose down -v # also removes the stalwart-etc/stalwart-data volumes
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npm run dev:server
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bash ./scripts/dev-server-init.sh # re-run: fresh volume needs bootstrapping again
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```
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## Troubleshooting
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- **UI shows a login screen instead of the admin panel, or the page fails
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to load data**: `npm run dev` only reads `.env.development.local` at
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startup. If you regenerate a token, or restart the Docker container,
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while `npm run dev` is already running, stop it (Ctrl+C) and start it
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again — it won't pick up the new token or reconnect on its own.
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- **`Failed to fetch` / connection refused in the browser console**: the
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test server isn't running or isn't ready yet. Check with
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`docker ps --filter name=stalwart-webui-dev` and
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`npm run dev:server:logs`; wait for `Network listener started ...
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localPort = 8080` before retrying.
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- **401s after everything was working**: your token expired. Re-run
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`scripts/dev-token.sh` (or `.ps1`) and restart `npm run dev`.
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- **`scripts/dev-server-init.sh` fails with connection errors**: the
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container needs a few seconds after `npm run dev:server` before it
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accepts requests — the script retries for ~30s, but if your machine is
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slow, just re-run it.
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## Notes for AI agents
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- This whole workflow (steps 1–4) is scriptable end-to-end without a
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browser: `npm run dev:server`, then `bash scripts/dev-server-init.sh`
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(first time only), then `bash scripts/dev-token.sh`, then the app is
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reachable at `http://localhost:5173` with `VITE_ACCESS_TOKEN` already
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set. Verify backend connectivity directly with `curl`, e.g.
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`curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" http://localhost:8080/jmap/session`.
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- Read [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) before touching anything under `src/` —
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the schema-fidelity rule applies to all development, local test server
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or not.
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- Don't commit `.env.development.local` (it holds a live token) or leave
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the dev container running unexpectedly — `npm run dev:server:down` when
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you're done.
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