Local Development Startup Guide

Comprehensive guide for starting and troubleshooting the Orient local development environment.

Quick Start

# Start everything
./run.sh dev

# Stop everything
./run.sh dev stop

Containerized Test Environment

For production-like testing with all services running in Docker containers:

# Start test environment
./run.sh test

# View container logs
./run.sh test logs

# Show container status
./run.sh test status

# Stop test environment
./run.sh test stop

What

./run.sh test

Does

1. Builds Docker images for all services:

   • bot-slack
   • dashboard (includes WhatsApp integration)
   • opencode

2. Starts containers in dependency order:

   • MinIO (object storage)
   • Dashboard API (with WhatsApp routes)
   • OpenCode API
   • Bot services (Slack)
   • Nginx (reverse proxy)

3. Creates SQLite database and pushes schema

4. Exposes services via Nginx at port 80

Test Environment Access Points

Test Environment vs Dev Mode

./run.sh dev

./run.sh test

Verifying Test Environment

# Check all containers are running
docker ps --filter "name=orienter"

# Check dashboard health
curl http://localhost/dashboard/api/health

# View container logs
./run.sh test logs

# Check specific container
docker logs orienter-dashboard

What

./run.sh dev

Does

1. Checks for orphaned processes on required ports
2. Starts Docker infrastructure (MinIO, Nginx)
3. Creates SQLite database directory if needed
4. Pushes database schema with Drizzle
5. Seeds agent registry if empty
6. Starts Vite frontend dev server (port 5173)
7. Starts Dashboard API server with WhatsApp integration (port 4098)
8. Starts Slack bot

Service Ports

Note: WhatsApp functionality is integrated into the Dashboard service on port 4098.

Common Startup Errors and Solutions

1. Database File Not Found

Error:

SQLITE_CANTOPEN: unable to open database file

Cause: Database directory doesn't exist.

Solution:

./run.sh dev stop
./run.sh dev
# Or manually:
mkdir -p .dev-data/instance-0

2. Missing Module Export (ESM Resolution)

Error:

SyntaxError: The requested module '@orientbot/database-services' does not provide an export named 'X'

Cause: Package dist files are stale or missing.

Solution: Rebuild packages in dependency order:

pnpm --filter @orientbot/core build
pnpm --filter @orientbot/database build
pnpm --filter @orientbot/database-services build
pnpm --filter @orientbot/integrations build

3. Missing Database Table

Error:

SqliteError: no such table: user_version_preferences

Solution:

1. Push schema:

   pnpm --filter @orientbot/database run db:push:sqlite

2. Or restart:

   ./run.sh dev stop && ./run.sh dev

4. Container Name Conflict

Error:

Conflict. The container name "/orienter-minio-0" is already in use

Solution:

./run.sh dev stop
docker rm orienter-minio-0 2>/dev/null
./run.sh dev

5. Port Already in Use

Error:

EADDRINUSE: address already in use :::4098

Solution:

# Find what's using the port
lsof -i :4098

# Kill the process or stop dev mode
./run.sh dev stop

Package Build Order

When ESM errors occur, rebuild in this order:

pnpm --filter @orientbot/core build
pnpm --filter @orientbot/database build
pnpm --filter @orientbot/database-services build
pnpm --filter @orientbot/integrations build

Database Management

Database Location

SQLite database file:

.dev-data/instance-N/orient.db

Pushing Schema

# Push schema changes
pnpm --filter @orientbot/database run db:push:sqlite

# Or via run.sh (done automatically)
./run.sh dev

Inspecting Database

# Using sqlite3 CLI
sqlite3 .dev-data/instance-0/orient.db ".tables"
sqlite3 .dev-data/instance-0/orient.db "SELECT * FROM agents;"

# Using Drizzle Studio
pnpm db:studio

Verification Checklist

# 1. API Health (includes WhatsApp status)
curl http://localhost:4098/health

# 2. Frontend Loading
curl -s http://localhost:5173 | head -5

# 3. Database Connectivity
sqlite3 .dev-data/instance-0/orient.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM agents;"

# 4. Check Running Processes
ps aux | grep -E "tsx|vite" | grep -v grep

# 5. WhatsApp QR Status
curl http://localhost:4098/qr/status

Environment Configuration

.env

DATABASE_TYPE=sqlite
SQLITE_DB_PATH=.dev-data/instance-0/orient.db
DASHBOARD_JWT_SECRET=your-secret-here
ORIENT_MASTER_KEY=your-master-key

Troubleshooting Commands

# View dashboard logs
tail -f logs/instance-0/dashboard-dev.log

# Check Docker containers
docker ps

# Check database tables
sqlite3 .dev-data/instance-0/orient.db ".tables"

# Check for errors
grep -i error logs/instance-0/*.log | tail -20

Blank Page / Loading Issues via Nginx (Port 80)

Symptoms

• Blank page or stuck on "Loading your workspace..." when accessing http://localhost:80
• No JavaScript console errors visible
• Network requests return 200/304 successfully
• React app intermittently fails to mount (

  #root

  element is empty)
• Direct access to http://localhost:5173 works perfectly

Root Causes

1. ES Module Execution Issues Through Proxy When Vite dev server runs behind Nginx proxy, ES modules can intermittently fail to execute:

• Module scripts load (network shows 200/304) but don't run
• No JavaScript errors - silent failure
• Issue is timing/race-condition related with Nginx proxying

2. Browser Extension Interference Extensions like MetaMask use SES (Secure EcmaScript) lockdown which can block:

• Vite's hot module replacement (HMR)
• React prototype modifications
• Look for "SES Removing unpermitted intrinsics" in console

Diagnosis

// In browser console on http://localhost:80/
document.getElementById('root')?.children?.length; // 0 = React not mounted

Solution: Use Direct Vite Access (Strongly Recommended)

For ALL daily development, use http://localhost:5173 directly:

http://localhost:5173/

Benefits:

• 100% reliable React mounting
• Faster hot reload (no Nginx proxy overhead)
• No browser extension conflicts
• Full API access (Vite proxies /api/ requests to port 4098)

Use http://localhost:80 (Nginx) ONLY when testing:

• Production-like routing scenarios
• Auth flows requiring specific hostnames
• Multi-service integration testing
• Always test in incognito mode to avoid extension conflicts

Creating Dashboard Users

When database is recreated, users are lost:

cd packages/dashboard
HASH=$(npx tsx -e "import bcrypt from 'bcryptjs'; bcrypt.hash('password', 10).then(h => console.log(h));")
sqlite3 ../.dev-data/instance-0/orient.db "
INSERT INTO dashboard_users (username, password_hash) VALUES ('username', '$HASH');
"