Closes HP-279
app/server/
Server-side application code for Headplane. Everything in this directory runs only on the Node process — never in the browser.
Layout
app/server/
├── app.ts ← The Headplane application (load context, RR listener)
├── main.ts ← Production bootstrap (binds an http(s) server)
├── context.ts ← createAppContext() — assembles the AppLoadContext
├── result.ts ← Result<T, E> helper used across the server modules
│
├── config/ ← YAML config loading, schema, env-overrides, integrations
├── db/ ← Drizzle SQLite client + schema
├── headscale/ ← Headscale REST API client + headscale-config loader
├── oidc/ ← OIDC provider abstraction
├── web/ ← Authentication service, identity, RBAC capabilities
└── hp-agent.ts ← Headplane agent process manager
Entry points
There are two SSR entries; both are picked up by Vite via vite.config.ts.
app.ts — the application module
Loads config → builds the AppLoadContext (via context.ts)
→ exports the React Router RequestListener as default, plus the
resolved config as a named export.
This module has no opinions about how the server is hosted. It does not
listen on a socket, doesn't compose static-asset serving, and doesn't
handle the basename redirect — that's the runtime's job (see
runtime/).
Consumed by:
main.tsin production buildsruntime/vite-plugin.tsinreact-router dev
main.ts — the production bootstrap
The SSR build input. Rollup bundles this file into
build/server/index.js. It:
- imports the listener + config from
app.ts - wraps the listener with
composeListenerfromruntime/http.ts— adds/admin → /admin/redirect and servesbuild/client/as static assets with immutable caching for theassets/subdirectory - binds an http(s) server with
startHttpServer
Run with node /app/build/server/index.js (this is what the Dockerfile
does). TLS is a one-line addition: pass tls: { key, cert } to
startHttpServer.
Application context
context.ts exposes createAppContext(config), which
constructs everything that needs to live for the lifetime of the
process:
- the SQLite client (
db) - the Headscale REST interface (
headscale) - the optional Headplane agent manager (
agents) - the auth service (
auth) - the optional OIDC service (
oidc) - the live store (
hsLive) - the (best-effort) parsed Headscale config (
hs) - the integration adapter (
integration)
The returned object is the AppLoadContext exposed to every React
Router loader/action. The module also declare module "react-router" { interface AppLoadContext extends AppContext {} }
so route handlers get full type inference on context.
When a route needs the type, import it from ~/server/context:
import type { AppContext } from "~/server/context";
export async function loader({ context }: LoaderFunctionArgs<AppContext>) {
// …
}
Dev vs. prod
| Concern | Dev (react-router dev) |
Prod (node build/server/index.js) |
|---|---|---|
| HTTP server | Vite owns it (vite.config.ts server.host/port) |
runtime/http.ts startHttpServer |
| Static assets | ./public (served by runtime/vite-plugin.ts) |
build/client/ (served by runtime/http.ts static handler) |
Basename redirect (/admin → /admin/) |
runtime/vite-plugin.ts via composeListener |
main.ts via composeListener |
| App load (HMR) | ssrLoadModule(app.ts) per request |
bundled into build/server/index.js |
| Entry point | app.ts |
main.ts |
There is no if (import.meta.env.PROD) branch in app.ts
or main.ts — the dev/prod split is expressed by which
file is loaded, not by runtime conditionals.
Adding a new server-side module
- Create the module under an existing subdirectory (or add a new one
that names a coherent concern, e.g.
metrics/,ratelimit/). - If it owns process-lifetime state (a connection pool, a service
client, …), construct it in
context.tsand add it to the returned object — this gives every route automatic access viacontext.<name>. - If it's purely a helper (pure functions, type definitions), import it directly from the module that needs it.