A community calendar
you actually own

Create a docker-compose.yml

The quickest way to run Gather is with Docker Compose. Create the file below on your server:

services:
  gather:
    image: ghcr.io/grantstephens/gather:latest
    container_name: gather
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8090:8090"
    volumes:
      - gather_data:/app/pb_data
    environment:
      - PB_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com
      - PB_ADMIN_PASSWORD=changeme
      - BASE_URL=https://your-domain.com

volumes:
  gather_data:

Start the container

docker compose up -d

Gather will be running at http://localhost:8090.

Put it behind a reverse proxy

For HTTPS in production, proxy port 8090 with Caddy, nginx, or Traefik.

Caddy (simplest — handles HTTPS automatically):

your-domain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8090
}

nginx:

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name your-domain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:8090;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

Create your admin account

Gather uses two separate account systems (a PocketBase limitation):

• PocketBase superuser — manages the database at /_/, created automatically from your env vars.
• App user — logs into the frontend at /login. Register separately, then promote to admin via /_/ > Collections > users > set role to admin.

Once you have a frontend admin account, go to Admin > Settings to configure:

• Site name and subtitle
• Favicon (auto-converted to WebP)
• SEO description for search engines and social previews
• Moderation settings (anonymous submissions, require approval)
• ActivityPub federation toggle
• Custom CSS and tracking/head code