> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.utter.technology/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Self-hosting the stack

> The practical shape of running Utter yourself: install, env, test, compose up, and the host deployer.

This page is the run shape for standing up your own Utter. The trusted control-plane services run in Docker Compose; the deployer runs on the gVisor host you provisioned. Local development and building use WSL2 and Docker Desktop for everything except the real sandbox, which needs the Linux gVisor host.

## Get it running

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install">
    ```bash theme={null}
    pnpm install
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure">
    Copy the example env and fill in the values. Secrets stay here; this file is gitignored.

    ```bash theme={null}
    cp .env.example .env.local
    ```

    See the [environment reference](/reference/environment) for what each variable does.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test">
    ```bash theme={null}
    pnpm test
    ```

    The Foundry contract tests run via `pnpm test:contracts`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Bring up the control plane">
    The trusted services (studio, marketplace, facilitator, Traefik, Postgres, Redis, data proxy) run from compose:

    ```bash theme={null}
    docker compose -f infrastructure/docker-compose.yml --env-file .env.local up -d
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run the deployer on the host">
    The deployer is not a compose service. It runs on the gVisor host via systemd, because it needs the host Docker daemon and `runsc`. See [Provisioning a host](/operator/provisioning) and [The deploy pipeline](/operator/deploy-pipeline).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Contracts are already deployed

The contracts (`ResourceRegistry`, `PaymentEscrow`, `StakingVault`, `PaymentSplitter`, and the reference ERC-8004 registries) are already deployed on Arc Testnet. The live addresses are in [the address reference](/reference/addresses).

You only redeploy for a fresh, separate environment, and if you do, you must re-pin the new addresses in `packages/chain` so every service points at your instance.

<Info>
  Arc is testnet only. There is no mainnet deploy. Chain id is `5042002` and settlement is in USDC.
</Info>

## The testnet role-collapse caveat

<Warning>
  On testnet the owner, escrow admin, relayer, and treasury are collapsed onto a single EOA. That is fine for testnet, but a production-style deploy must set distinct roles for each. Do not ship the collapsed configuration as if it were production.
</Warning>

## Keep secrets in `.env.local`

Everything sensitive (wallet keys, the relayer key, the deployer auth secret, the DNS provider credentials for DNS-01, `DATABASE_URL`, `REDIS_URL`) lives in `.env.local`, which is gitignored. Nothing sensitive is committed.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Provisioning a host" icon="server" href="/operator/provisioning">
    The gVisor host requirements the deployer depends on.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Environment reference" icon="gear" href="/reference/environment">
    Every variable in `.env.local` and what it controls.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>