Tips and tricks

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🚀 How to Host FE + BE on a Mac Mini with Caddy (Auto SSL)

This setup will:

• Route zoomitthemes.go.ro/api/* → Backend (port 5437)
• Route zoomitthemes.go.ro/* → Frontend (port 3000)
• Automatically generate Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates

1️⃣ Install Caddy on the Mac Mini

Add a Code block in Gutenberg:

brew install caddy

2️⃣ Create the Caddyfile

Create the file:

/opt/homebrew/etc/Caddyfile

Add this configuration:

zoomitthemes.go.ro {
    handle /api/* {
        reverse_proxy localhost:5437
    }    handle {
        reverse_proxy localhost:3000
    }
}

🔁 What This Does

• zoomitthemes.go.ro/api/* → Backend on port 5437
• zoomitthemes.go.ro/* → Frontend on port 3000

3️⃣ Port Forward on Your Router

Forward the following ports (TCP) to your Mac Mini local IP address:

• 80
• 443

This allows Caddy to:

• Receive public traffic
• Automatically generate SSL certificates

4️⃣ Start Caddy

Option A — Run Manually

sudo caddy run --config /opt/homebrew/etc/Caddyfile

Option B — Run as a Service (Recommended)

brew services start caddy

5️⃣ Run Your Applications

🖥 Terminal 1 – Backend

cd yourname-be
npm start

🌐 Terminal 2 – Frontend

cd yourname-fe
npm start

🔐 Automatic SSL

Caddy will automatically request and install Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates the first time someone accesses your domain.

No manual certificate configuration required.

⚠️ Important: Handle the /api Prefix

Your backend must either:

Option A — Handle /api routes directly

OR

Option B — Strip /api in Caddy (Recommended)

Update your Caddyfile like this:

zoomitthemes.go.ro {    handle /api/* {
        uri strip_prefix /api
        reverse_proxy localhost:5437
    }    handle {
        reverse_proxy localhost:3000
    }
}

✔ Result

• Public request: https://zoomitthemes.go.ro/api/agents
• Internally becomes: http://localhost:5437/agents

Cleaner backend routes, no /api prefix needed in your Node app.

✅ Final Architecture

Internet
   ↓
Caddy (Mac Mini)
   ↓
 ├── FE → localhost:3000
 └── BE → localhost:5437

docker-compose.yml

services:
  db:
    image: mysql:8
    container_name: yourname-db
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD:-root}
      MYSQL_DATABASE: yourname
      MYSQL_USER: yourname
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: yourname
    volumes:
      - mysql_data:/var/lib/mysqlvolumes:
  mysql_data:

docker compose up -d

npm run migrate

npm start

localhost:3306

mysql_data

┌─────────┬────────┬───────────────────────────┐
│ Service │  Port  │          Command          │
├─────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────┤
│ MySQL   │ 3306   │ docker compose up -d      │
├─────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────┤
│ BE      │ 5437   │ npm start                 │
├─────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────┤
│ FE      │ 3000   │ npm start (in FE folder)  │
├─────────┼────────┼───────────────────────────┤
│ Caddy   │ 80/443 │ brew services start caddy │
└─────────┴────────┴───────────────────────────┘

DATABASE_URL=mysql://yourname:yourname@localhost:3306/yourname

Internet
   ↓
Caddy (80/443)
   ↓
Frontend (3000)
   ↓
Backend (5437)
   ↓
MySQL Docker (3306)
   ↓
Docker Volume (mysql_data)