---
title: "Deploy Hoppscotch SSO"
description: "Sign in to your own Hoppscotch with GitHub, Google or Microsoft"
category: "Other"
url: https://railway.com/deploy/deploy-hoppscotch-with-sso-login
---

# Deploy Hoppscotch SSO

Sign in to your own Hoppscotch with GitHub, Google or Microsoft

**[Deploy Hoppscotch SSO on Railway](https://railway.com/template/deploy-hoppscotch-with-sso-login)**

Machine-readable deploy manifest (JSON, validated by TemplateCI): https://railway.com/deploy/deploy-hoppscotch-with-sso-login/manifest.json

- **Creator:** onepush
- **Category:** Other

## Template content

### Hoppscotch

- **Image:** hoppscotch/hoppscotch:2026.9.0@sha256:3160f5b3acf49478552a66a0785ee6c75f64311066f149f7d946fbd540f8388d
- **Start command:** `/bin/sh -c "cd /dist/backend && pnpm exec prisma migrate deploy && exec tini -s -- node /usr/src/app/aio_run.mjs"`
- **Health check:** /ping
- **Public domain:** Yes

### Postgres https://devicons.railway.app/i/postgresql.svg

- **Image:** ghcr.io/railwayapp-templates/postgres-ssl:18.6@sha256:fcc6686a3f4f1962fe4ed77a15884553b7bd611ae1cea3204687968c5c09d517

## Documentation

# Deploy and Host self hosted Hoppscotch SSO (Self-Hosted API Client Sign-In) on Railway

This template runs a private Hoppscotch Community Edition instance on Railway with GitHub, Google, Microsoft or email magic-link sign-in.

## About Hosting Hoppscotch SSO open-source software on Railway (self hosted Hoppscotch self-hosted sign-in providers and admin setup template)

This template runs Hoppscotch Community Edition as two Railway services: the hoppscotch/hoppscotch 2026.9.0 all-in-one image, serving the web app at /, the admin dashboard at /admin and the backend at /backend, plus a private Postgres 18.6 database.

## Why Deploy Hoppscotch SSO, the Postman alternative on Railway (Railway Free Trial)

Postman keeps your collections in its own cloud and charges per seat once a team outgrows the free tier.

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it.

By deploying Hoppscotch SSO on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.

### Railway vs Other Hosting Providers and VPS for Hoppscotch SSO self hosting

Self hosting Hoppscotch SSO means choosing where the app and Postgres run.

| Provider | What You Get with Railway | What You Get with the Other Provider |
|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean | Hoppscotch and Postgres from a template, with the OAuth callback domain and secrets wired. | A Droplet you set up yourself, including Docker, Postgres, HTTPS and updates. |
| AWS | Both services in one project, a public domain and automatic migrations, with no IAM or VPC setup. | Building blocks like EC2, RDS and certificates that you assemble and maintain. |
| Hetzner | Managed deploys from the template and a private network to Postgres. | Cheap bare servers with full control, but you handle OS patching, Docker, the proxy and backups. |

Choose Railway for a quick sign-in setup, or a VPS if you need control over every layer.

## Common Use Cases for hosted Hoppscotch SSO

- **Team sign-in with existing accounts:** Developers sign in with GitHub or Google instead of a new password. Create an OAuth app per provider with the callback on your Railway domain, then paste the client ID and secret into Server Settings.
- **Restricting access to Microsoft accounts:** Enable Microsoft so only people with your company Microsoft accounts get in. Register the app with the user read scope and point the callback at your-domain/backend/v1/auth/microsoft/callback.
- **Passwordless magic links for contractors:** Outside collaborators without company SSO can sign in with an email link. That option only works once SMTP is configured, so set it up first.
- **Inviting teammates without shared passwords:** Use Users, then Invite User, and enter an email. With SMTP the invite email goes out; without it, copy the Invite Link from Pending Invites and send it yourself.
- **Keeping collections off a vendor cloud:** Collections and environments stay in Postgres on your own Railway project, and you control who signs in.

## Dependencies for Hoppscotch SSO Docker hosted on Railway

This template runs two services: the Hoppscotch all-in-one image and a private Postgres database.

### Deployment Dependencies for Managed Hoppscotch SSO Service (API Client)

- **Hoppscotch service:** image hoppscotch/hoppscotch:2026.9.0, bundled Caddy on port 80, public Railway domain pointed at it.
- **Postgres service:** Postgres 18.6 on the postgres-ssl image, private only, volume at /var/lib/postgresql/data.
- **Variables:** DATABASE_URL from Postgres, plus generated DATA_ENCRYPTION_KEY (exactly 32 characters) and WEBAPP_SERVER_SIGNING_SECRET.
- **Health and restart:** /ping health check, restart policy ALWAYS.

### Implementation Details for Hoppscotch SSO (Using Hoppscotch official docker image)

Set PORT=8080 and TRUST_PROXY=true so the backend sits correctly behind Caddy.

## How does Hoppscotch SSO compare against other ways to add sign-in to a self-hosted API client

### Hoppscotch SSO vs Postman SSO (Postman Alternative)

- **Data location:** Postman is closed-source SaaS with collections in its cloud, while Hoppscotch on Railway keeps collections and users in your own Postgres on your domain.
- **Where Postman wins:** Its ecosystem, integrations and docs tooling are far larger, so if a vendor cloud is fine, it's the lower-friction choice.
- **Cost model:** Hoppscotch Community Edition is MIT licensed and free to self host, so you pay only for Railway hosting.

### Hoppscotch SSO vs Insomnia (Insomnia Alternative)

- **Open core vs open project:** Insomnia's cloud sync and team features sit behind paid plans, whereas Hoppscotch's whole CE stack is MIT licensed.
- **Sign-in model:** Hoppscotch offers GitHub, Google, Microsoft or email magic links on your domain, and you control invitations from the admin dashboard.
- **Where Insomnia wins:** Its desktop experience and plugins are mature, and it needs no server to run.

### Hoppscotch SSO vs Bruno (Bruno Alternative)

- **Architecture:** Bruno is an offline desktop client that stores collections as plain files in git, with no server and no sign-in step.
- **Shared access:** Hoppscotch gives a team one URL behind OAuth or email sign-in, which Bruno can't provide without a central server.
- **Where Bruno wins:** Git-versioned collections are hard to beat for code review and offline work, and there's no infrastructure to run.

### Hoppscotch SSO vs Thunder Client (Thunder Client Alternative)

- **Editor-bound vs browser-based:** Thunder Client is a VS Code extension, while Hoppscotch runs in the browser and can be shared across a team.
- **Access control:** Hoppscotch's admin dashboard manages sign-in providers and invitations for the whole instance, which a per-user editor extension can't offer.
- **Where Thunder Client wins:** It's quick to start for one developer in VS Code, with no DNS or OAuth apps to set up.

## How to use Hoppscotch SSO (the OSS API development platform)?

Work through these steps on day one, once the first deploy finishes.

1. Create an OAuth app per provider: GitHub (scope user:email, callback https://your-domain/backend/v1/auth/github/callback), Google (scope email, profile, /google/callback), Microsoft (scope user with read, /microsoft/callback).
2. Open https://your-domain/admin and go to Server Settings.
3. Enter GITHUB_CLIENT_ID, GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET, GITHUB_CALLBACK_URL and GITHUB_SCOPE, then pick providers.
4. For email magic links, set SMTP as smtps://user@domain.com:pass@smtp.domain.com, or use MAILER_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIGS=true with host, port 587 or 465, user and password.
5. Save. The server restarts itself, so expect a short pause.

```env
GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=your-github-client-id
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=your-github-client-secret
GITHUB_CALLBACK_URL=https://your-domain/backend/v1/auth/github/callback
GITHUB_SCOPE=user:email
VITE_ALLOWED_AUTH_PROVIDERS=GOOGLE,GITHUB,MICROSOFT,EMAIL
```

```bash
curl -X POST https://your-domain/backend/v1/infra/user-invitations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer Your_InfraToken" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "teammate@example.com"}'
```

## How to self host Hoppscotch SSO on other VPS Services (Hoppscotch self hosting guide)

Upstream runs Hoppscotch as a Docker container beside a Postgres database you manage.

### Clone the Repository

Clone the Community Edition source from github.com/hoppscotch/hoppscotch.

```bash
git clone https://github.com/hoppscotch/hoppscotch.git
cd hoppscotch
```

### Install Dependencies

Install Docker, plus pnpm for running the migration from the host.

```bash
npm install -g pnpm
```

### Configure Environment Variables

Copy the example file and set the database URL, encryption key and public URL.

```bash
cp .env.example .env
# DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@host:5432/hoppscotch
# DATA_ENCRYPTION_KEY=exactly-32-characters-long-string-here
# VITE_BASE_URL=https://your-domain
```

### Start the Hoppscotch SSO Application

Run the AIO image, then apply the migration inside the container.

```bash
docker run -d --name hoppscotch -p 80:80 --env-file .env hoppscotch/hoppscotch:2026.9.0
docker exec -it hoppscotch /bin/sh -c "pnpm exec prisma migrate deploy"
```

Railway handles the Postgres service, HTTPS and migrations on every deploy for you.

## Official Pricing of Hoppscotch SSO (Hoppscotch pricing)

Hoppscotch Community Edition is free and open source under the MIT license, so there is no license fee for running your own instance.

## Hoppscotch SSO cloud vs self hosted comparison (Pricing, features, costs, and more)

Hoppscotch Cloud is the easy path if you only need an API client and don't mind collections on a vendor's servers.

### Monthly cost of self hosting Hoppscotch SSO on Railway

Light use usually lands around $5-10 a month for the app and Postgres together, and Railway's $5 trial covers the first stretch.

### System Requirements for Hosting Hoppscotch SSO on a VPS

A small team does fine on 1 vCPU and 1-2 GB RAM.

## Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

### Do I need SMTP if I only use GitHub login?

No, SMTP matters for email sign-in and invite emails.

### Why does saving settings restart the server?

The backend writes its new config and exits with code 0 so the container restarts with the new settings.

### How do I set the callback URL on the Railway domain?

Use your https Railway domain with the provider path, such as https://your-domain/backend/v1/auth/github/callback.

### Does the desktop app need ENABLE_SUBPATH_BASED_ACCESS?

Yes, and the template already sets it to true.

### What happens to invites when SMTP is missing?

No invite email goes out, but the invite still shows under Pending Invites.

### Can I change DATA_ENCRYPTION_KEY after first boot?

Avoid it.


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