Run it yourself

Running Tab yourself is free, forever, and your data never leaves your machine.

What you need

• A computer that stays on: a spare laptop, a home server, or a small rented server (a few dollars a month).
• Docker.

Start it

git clone https://github.com/johnhkchen/tab.git
cd tab
docker compose up

Open http://localhost:4000. That’s all: the database is created and kept up to date every time Tab starts.

To check everything is running, open http://localhost:4000/healthz. You should see "db": "ok".

What’s running

Part	What it does
web	The app you use, on port 4000.
db	The database. Your data lives in a Docker volume called tab-db.
extract	Reads bills and receipts. Optional: everything else works without it.

Settings

Put these in a file called .env next to compose.yaml if you need them:

Setting	What it’s for	Default
PORT	The port Tab is reachable on.	4000
TAB_LISTEN	Which address Tab listens on. Use 127.0.0.1 behind a reverse proxy, or on a server that runs other things.	0.0.0.0 (every address)
PHX_HOST	The address people type to reach Tab.	localhost
POSTGRES_PASSWORD	The database password. Set it before the first start.	postgres
SECRET_KEY_BASE	Signs logins. Leave it out and Tab makes one on first start.	(made for you)

Updating

git pull
docker compose up -d --build

Tab updates its database on the way up, so there’s no separate step.