CapRover Lite

A lightweight, zero-dependency Node.js webhook server for automated deployments. Think of it as a localized "poor man's CapRover" or a simple CI/CD receiver that executes shell commands upon receiving a webhook.

Features

• Zero External Dependencies: Uses only standard Node.js modules (http, child_process, fs, path).
• Hot Config Reload: Configuration is re-read on every request, allowing you to update projects without restarting the server.
• Multi-App Support: proper routing of webhooks to different project deployment scripts.
• Flexible: Define custom build and reload commands for each project.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14+ recommended)
• Git
• PM2 (optional, but recommended for process management)

Global Installation (Recommended)

# Install globally
npm install -g caprover-lite

Configuration

Create a configuration file named .caprover-lite.json in your home directory:

# Copy example to home directory
cp project.example.json ~/.caprover-lite.json

Then edit ~/.caprover-lite.json to define your projects.

Usage

Simply run the command from anywhere:

caprover-lite

Manual Installation (Local Dev)

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <your-repo-url>
   cd caprover-lite
   npm install
   npm link # Optional: to make 'caprover-lite' command available globally from source

2. Setup Configuration

   Create a project.json file in your deployment directory. You can copy the example:

   cp project.example.json project.json

   Note: project.json (or .caprover-lite.json) is sensitive, so handle it with care.

3. Edit Configuration Open project.json and configure your projects:

   {
     "port": 8000,
     "apps": [
       {
         "name": "my-api-service",
         "path": "/path/to/local/repo",
         "branch": "main",
         "build": "git pull origin main && npm install && npm run build",
         "reload": "pm2 reload my-api-service"
       }
     ]
   }

   | Field | Description | | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | port | Port for the webhook server to listen on. | | name | Unique identifier for the project (used in webhook URL). | | path | Absolute path to the project directory on the server. | | branch | The git branch to pull (default: main). | | build | Shell command(s) to run for building/updating the app. | | reload | Shell command(s) to restart/reload the application service. |

Usage

Starting the Server

Run in the directory containing your project.json:

caprover-lite

Or if you haven't installed it globally:

npx caprover-lite

Setting up Webhooks

Configure your Git provider (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, etc.) to send a POST request to:

http://<your-server-ip>:8000/webhook?project=<project-name>

Replace <project-name> with the name defined in your config file.

Alternative Payload Support: If you cannot set query parameters, the server also attempts to parse the JSON body of the webhook to find a projectName or repository.name field.

Security Note

This tool does not currently implement authentication/secret validation for webhooks. It is recommended to:

1. Run this service on a private network or restrict incoming IPs.
2. Use a reverse proxy (Nginx/Apache) to handle SSL and basic auth if exposed publicly.

License

MIT