Deploy and Host Calnode

Self-hostable Calendly alternative in a single Go binary with embedded SQLite. API-first and MCP-native, out of the box. No Redis, no Postgres, no separate API server, no multi-gigabyte image.

Dependencies for Calnode

No external services required. Calnode runs as one service with one volume (/data) holding the SQLite database file.

Variable	Default	Optional	Notes
`PORT`	`3000`	yes	HTTP listen port. Calnode binds `0.0.0.0:3000` by default.
`BASE_URL`	`http://localhost:3000`	no	Public identity host used for OAuth callbacks, the admin UI, and team-invite links. Set to your real domain after the first deploy and redeploy.
`DATABASE_URL`	`sqlite:///data/calnode.db`	yes	SQLite driver path. Keep on the `/data` volume so calendar data survives restarts.
`CALNODE_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	`${{secret(32)}}`	no	Envelope-encryption master key (auto-generated). Required for https `BASE_URL`.
`CALNODE_RECOVERY_SECRET`	(blank)	yes	Break-glass escrow for recovering from a lost encryption key.
`PUBLIC_BASE_URL`	(blank)	yes	Optional booker-facing host. Blank = inherits `BASE_URL`.
`TZ`	`UTC`	yes	Timezone for meetings, reminders, and logs.
`GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID/SECRET`	(blank)	yes	Google sign-in + Google Calendar sync. Redirect URIs: `{BASE_URL}/v1/auth/callback`, `{BASE_URL}/v1/calendar/callback`.
`MICROSOFT_CLIENT_ID/SECRET`	(blank)	yes	Microsoft 365 sign-in + calendar sync. Redirect URIs: `{BASE_URL}/v1/auth/microsoft/callback`, `{BASE_URL}/v1/calendar/callback`.
`MICROSOFT_TENANT`	`common`	yes	Azure tenant. `common` allows personal + work/school accounts.
`EMAIL_SMTP_*`	(blank)	yes	SMTP host/port/user/pass for booking invitation and confirmation emails. Blank = no email.
`LITESTREAM_*`	(blank)	yes	Continuous SQLite backup to S3/R2/B2/MinIO via Litestream.

Deployment Dependencies

One service.
One volume mounted at /data (Railway volume, 5 GB default — enough for years of bookings; the binary is ~20 MB and the SQLite file grows slowly).
No sidecar. No database plugin. No Redis.

About Hosting

Calnode is a single static Go binary compiled with CGO_ENABLED=0 — one process, one port, one file. The database is a standard SQLite file at /data/calnode.db, easy to back up and easy to move.

Deployment surface:

Service calnode — listens on PORT (default 3000), healthcheck at /healthz (returns {"status":"ok"}), admin UI at /admin/, JSON API at /v1/*, MCP server at /mcp.
Volume calnode-data — mounted at /data; holds the SQLite database plus any object-storage backup state.

Railway maps the public domain to the service's PORT. BASE_URL must match where your team actually lives (the https://YOUR-SUB.up.railway.app or your custom domain) because Calnode derives OAuth redirect URIs, admin-UI links, and invite links from it.

Why Deploy

Single binary, single volume — the entire stack is one process on one port. No Redis, no Postgres, no sidecar, no multi-gigabyte image.
MCP-native — book events, read availability, and manage calendars through MCP tools that work with any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, VS Code, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, etc.).
API-first — every UI action has a JSON endpoint at /v1/*; Swagger at /v1/docs.
Calendar sync — Google and Microsoft 365 out of the box. OAuth redirect URIs are derived from BASE_URL.
First-party video + AI notetaking — build on top of the MCP API or the /v1/* JSON endpoints.
Optional object-storage backup — continuous SQLite replication to S3/R2/B2/MinIO via LITESTREAM_* vars when you want it.
SMTP for real — calendar invites land in inboxes, not in a UI.
Apache-2.0 — upstream Calnode/calnode, actively developed, Go 1.26.

Common Use Cases

Personal scheduling — replace Calendly's $10–20/month subscription with a single Go binary on a $5/mo host.
Team-facing bookings — one instance, multiple event types, one booking link per customer.
AI-agent scheduling — wire Calnode's MCP server into Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, or any MCP client so your agents can book on your behalf.
Self-hosted frontend/backend split — Calnode's API is https://YOUR-DOMAIN/v1/*; pair it with any calendar SPA.
Migration from Cal.com — the API surface is a subset of Cal.com's; point your existing clients at Calnode's /v1/* endpoints.

Quick Start

Deploy — PORT, DATABASE_URL, and CALNODE_ENCRYPTION_KEY are pre-filled (the key is a fresh random value per deployment). BASE_URL defaults to http://localhost:3000; set it to your real domain after the first deploy and redeploy.
Create your admin user from the admin UI at /admin/, or via POST /v1/admin/users (see the API docs at /v1/docs).
Connect a calendar — Google or Microsoft 365 — from Settings → Calendars. Add the redirect URIs derived from BASE_URL in your OAuth console first.
Create an event type and share the booking link.