Build from source

Build and run Inbot from a source checkout, run the checks the project uses, and build this documentation site locally.

Requirements

• Node.js 24.21.0 or newer, below 25
• pnpm 10.24.0
• An OS keychain, or the test-only memory keychain described below

Build and run

pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm web:build
pnpm start:server --home "$HOME/inbot-dev-home" --port 8025 --init \
  --web-root "$PWD/apps/web/dist"

pnpm build compiles the server, CLI and shared packages, and bundles the inbound Email Worker to dist/worker/inbound.js, which domain provisioning uploads. pnpm web:build builds the owner app. Later starts omit --init.

In a source checkout, use pnpm start:cli (or node dist/apps/cli/src/main.js) wherever the docs say inbot. Source builds default to the development flavor and ~/.inbot-dev. Always pass an explicit --home while developing, so you never touch an installed instance’s mail or keychain item.

Checks

Tests use temporary homes, a memory keychain, a fixed clock and fakes of the Cloudflare API and DNS. They never send real mail or touch a real account.

For local experiments without the OS keychain, set INBOT_TEST_MEMORY_KEYCHAIN=1. It requires an explicit --home and the development flavor, refuses the default homes, and the key is lost when the process exits, so the home cannot be reopened.

Documentation

The documentation lives in apps/docs and is built with Blume, a Markdown documentation framework on Astro. It shares its design tokens with the web app through packages/design.

pnpm docs:dev     # build, then preview with hot reload
pnpm docs:build   # build, then write the static site to apps/docs/dist

docs/reference/cli.md is generated from inbot --help on every docs build; do not edit it by hand.