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Patchkite

Quickstart

This walkthrough runs everything on your machine. For a real deployment, follow Deploy to production instead.

1. Start a server

Section titled “1. Start a server”

You need Docker with Docker Compose.

Terminal window
git clone https://github.com/patchkite/patchkite.git
cd patchkite/docker
docker compose --profile full up -d --build

This starts PostgreSQL, RustFS (S3-compatible storage), and the Patchkite server at http://localhost:3000. The dashboard is at http://localhost:3000/web/.

2. Install the CLI and create an account

Section titled “2. Install the CLI and create an account”
Terminal window
npm install -g @patchkite/cli
patchkite register http://localhost:3000

The first account on a server automatically becomes an admin. Later, you can log in again with patchkite login http://localhost:3000.

3. Register your app

Section titled “3. Register your app”

Create one Patchkite app per platform:

Terminal window
patchkite app add MyApp-Android android react-native   # or: flutter
patchkite deployment ls MyApp-Android -k               # shows the Staging and Production keys

4. Add the SDK

Section titled “4. Add the SDK”

Follow the guide for your framework, using the Staging key and your server URL:

Build and install a release build of the app. Debug builds load code from Metro or the Flutter tool, not from Patchkite.

5. Release an update

Section titled “5. Release an update”

Change some visible text in your app, then:

Terminal window
patchkite release-react MyApp-Android android --description "My first update"
# Flutter: patchkite release-flutter MyApp-Android android --description "My first update"

Open the app, close it completely, and open it again. The default install mode applies updates on the next restart, so you should now see your change. The release also shows up as installed in the dashboard.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”