Requirements

What You Need

Documenso requires the following external services:

Service	Purpose	Minimum Version
PostgreSQL	Primary database	14+
SMTP server	Sending emails to recipients	Any
Reverse proxy	SSL termination, routing	Any

PostgreSQL Database

Documenso uses PostgreSQL for all data storage including documents, users, and audit logs. You cannot use MySQL, SQLite, or other databases.

Documenso requires two connection strings:

Pooled connection (NEXT_PRIVATE_DATABASE_URL) - For general application queries
Direct connection (NEXT_PRIVATE_DIRECT_DATABASE_URL) - For migrations and operations that require a direct connection

If you're not using a connection pooler (like PgBouncer), both can point to the same database URL.

Email Server

Documenso sends transactional emails for:

Document signing requests
Signing reminders
Completion notifications
Password resets and verification

Supported transports:

Transport	Use Case
`smtp-auth`	Standard SMTP with username/password
`smtp-api`	SMTP with API key authentication
`resend`	Resend.com API
`mailchannels`	MailChannels API

Without a working email configuration, recipients cannot receive signing requests. Configure email before going to production.

Reverse Proxy

For production deployments, place Documenso behind a reverse proxy such as:

nginx
Caddy
Traefik
HAProxy
Cloud load balancers (AWS ALB, GCP Load Balancer, etc.)

The reverse proxy handles SSL/TLS termination and forwards requests to Documenso on port 3000.

Optional Services

These services are not required but improve functionality or scalability:

Service	Purpose
S3-compatible storage	Store documents externally (recommended)

Document Storage

By default, Documenso stores documents in the PostgreSQL database. For production deployments with significant document volume, use S3-compatible storage:

Amazon S3
MinIO
Cloudflare R2
DigitalOcean Spaces
Any S3-compatible provider

See Storage Configuration for setup details.

Documenso processes background jobs (email delivery, document processing) using a PostgreSQL-based queue. No additional services like Redis are required: the job queue is built into the application and uses your existing database.

For high-throughput deployments, Documenso optionally supports Inngest as an alternative job provider. Set NEXT_PRIVATE_JOBS_PROVIDER=inngest and configure INNGEST_EVENT_KEY and INNGEST_SIGNING_KEY. Most self-hosted instances do not need this.

Hardware Requirements

Minimum (Testing/Development)

Resource	Requirement
CPU	1 core
RAM	1 GB
Storage	10 GB

Recommended (Production)

Resource	Requirement
CPU	2+ cores
RAM	2+ GB
Storage	20+ GB

Storage requirements depend on document volume. If using external S3 storage, local storage needs are minimal. If storing documents in the database, plan for growth accordingly.

Build Requirements

If building from source (not using Docker images):

Requirement	Version
Node.js	18+
npm	8+

Supported Platforms

Documenso runs on:

Linux - Any modern distribution (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Alpine)
Docker - Official images available on DockerHub and GitHub Container Registry
Kubernetes - Helm charts and manifests available
PaaS providers - Railway, Render, Koyeb (one-click deploys available)

What's NOT Supported

The following configurations are not supported and may not work correctly.

Configuration	Reason
Windows native	Use Docker or WSL2 instead
MySQL/MariaDB	PostgreSQL-specific features required
SQLite	Not suitable for production workloads
MongoDB	Relational database required
Node.js < 18	Modern JavaScript features required

Checklist

Before proceeding to deployment, confirm you have:

PostgreSQL 14+ database accessible
SMTP credentials or email provider API key
Signing certificate (.p12) for document signing — see Tips
Domain name for your Documenso instance
SSL certificate (or reverse proxy that handles SSL)
Server meeting minimum hardware requirements