OpenPress

A High-Performance, Self-Hostable Blog & E-Commerce Platform. Open Source (Apache 2.0) | Built for Speed & Flexibility | Accessible

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📖 Overview

OpenPress is a modern, open-source platform designed to democratize high-performance e-commerce and content publishing. It bridges the gap between ease of use and raw system power by combining a D (vibe.d) backend with a React (Vite + Bun) frontend.

Core Philosophy

1. Performance Accessible: We use D and C++20 to deliver native speed without the complexity often associated with systems programming.
2. Self-Hosting First: Optimized to run on modest hardware, even behind restrictive networks (NAT) using tunneling.
3. Strictly Typed & Safe: From the database (SQL/WAL) to the frontend (TypeScript), data integrity is paramount.
4. Developer Experience: A "Perfect OSS" setup with pre-configured VS Code environments, Bun for fast frontend builds, and automated tooling.

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🏗️ Architecture (Monorepo)

This repository is structured as a monorepo containing both the server and client applications.

openpress/
├── backend/                # The Core Server
│   ├── src/                # D (vibe.d) & C++20 Logic
│   ├── assets/             # SQL Scripts & Configuration
│   └── docs/               # Architecture & Man Pages
├── frontend/               # The User Interface
│   ├── src/                # React + TypeScript
│   └── public/             # Static Assets
└── LICENSE                 # Apache 2.0 License

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Backend: D Compiler (DMD/LDC), DUB, G++ (GCC 10+), SQLite3.
• Frontend: Bun (v1.0+).

Quick Start Guide

1. Backend (Server)

The backend handles API requests, database interactions, and business logic.

cd backend
# Compile C++ logic and Build D Server
./src/scripts/build_all.sh

# Run the server
./builds/current-server/openpress-server

The server will start on http://localhost:8080.

2. Frontend (Client)

The frontend is a React application powered by Vite and Bun.

cd frontend
# Install dependencies (fast!)
bun install

# Start development server
bun run dev

The application will be accessible at http://localhost:5173.

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📖 Detailed Usage Guide

Configuration

OpenPress is configured via JSON files located in backend/assets/json_files/.

• server_constants/limits.json: Tune HTTP timeouts, upload sizes, and session durations.
• Environment Variables:
  • PORT: Override the default port (8080).
  • DATABASE_URL: Path to the SQLite database (default: backend/assets/database/openpress.db).

Database Management

The system uses SQLite in WAL mode.

• Schema: Located in backend/assets/database/schema/main.sql.
• Migrations: Run automatically on startup (future implementation) or manually via provided scripts.

Troubleshooting

Build Failures

• Missing C++ Logic: Ensure liblogic.so is built first. Run ./src/scripts/build_all.sh instead of dub build directly.
• DUB Dependency Issues: If you see "broken package" warnings, try cleaning the cache:

  dub clean --all-packages
  dub upgrade --force-remove

Runtime Issues

• Database Locked: Ensure WAL mode is enabled (PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;). The server does this automatically, but external tools might lock the file.
• Frontend Connection Refused: Ensure the backend is running on port 8080. Check frontend/vite.config.ts proxy settings.

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🛠️ Development & Contribution

We have configured this project for a seamless VS Code experience.

1. Open the openpress/ folder in VS Code.
2. Install the Recommended Extensions (D, C++, ESLint, Prettier).
3. Use Tasks (Ctrl+Shift+B):
   • Build OpenPress (Backend)
   • bun: dev (Frontend)
   • bun: build (Frontend Production)

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See the LICENSE file for details.