Public access with a domain

Give Qwest an address like https://qwest.yourstudio.com that works from any browser, with no VPN. You need this for the community page, player playtests and the Discord bot.

Best for: a VPS. On a PC at home it also works, but needs your router set up (see the end).

1. Get a domain

Use one you already own, or buy one from a registrar like Porkbun, Namecheap or Cloudflare.

2. Point a name at the server

In your registrar’s DNS settings, add a record:

Type	Host / Name	Value
A	qwest	Your server’s IPv4 address

This makes qwest.yourstudio.com lead to your server. It can take a few minutes to work.

3. Install Caddy

Caddy is a web server that gets and renews HTTPS certificates by itself. On the server (Ubuntu):

sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https curl
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y caddy

4. Tell Caddy about Qwest

Open Caddy’s settings:

sudo nano /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Replace everything in it with (use your address):

qwest.yourstudio.com {
  reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:8080
}

Save, then reload Caddy:

sudo systemctl reload caddy

5. Open the web ports

sudo ufw allow 80
sudo ufw allow 443

If your provider has its own firewall in the dashboard (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Vultr…), allow ports 80 and 443 there too.

6. Point Qwest at it

In .env (in your qwest folder):

BETTER_AUTH_URL=https://qwest.yourstudio.com
QWEST_PORT=127.0.0.1:8080

Restart:

docker compose up -d

Open https://qwest.yourstudio.com. The padlock means HTTPS works.

Already use nginx or Traefik?

Any web server works. Forward the address to 127.0.0.1:8080, and allow WebSockets (Qwest uses one at /collab for live editing).

On a PC at home or in the studio

It works the same, plus two things on your network:

1. Port forwarding: in your router, forward ports 80 and 443 to the PC’s address.
2. Changing IP: most home connections change IP now and then. Use your registrar’s or router’s dynamic DNS to keep the A record up to date.

If your provider blocks incoming connections (some do), use Tailscale instead.