> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openheaders.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Open Headers Server

> The self-hosted back-end tier: what it is, what it serves, and where to find every operating task.

This section is the self-hosting book. It takes you from a fresh
machine to a hardened, backed-up, upgradable Open Headers Server — and
when something misbehaves, the [troubleshooting matrix](/server/troubleshooting)
maps symptoms to fixes.

The server (`ohd`) runs the same sync engine as the desktop app,
headless: workspaces, rules, and live values served to the browser
extension, desktop app, web app, and CLI over one WebSocket/HTTP bind.
Your machine, your LAN, a Raspberry Pi/NAS, or a VM you rent. No
account, no cloud relay, no telemetry, no phone-home — the daemon makes
zero outbound connections except ones you configure (an OIDC identity
provider for SSO login, if you set one up).

## The book

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Install & lifecycle" href="/server/install">
    Install the binaries, run the daemon as a user service, and
    understand where configuration, state, and logs live.
  </Card>

  <Card title="LAN vs TLS proxy" href="/server/lan-vs-tls">
    The one decision every deployment makes: how connections to the
    daemon are protected once it leaves loopback.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Docker & Compose" href="/server/docker">
    Run the daemon as a container: volumes, ports, version pinning,
    and a Compose file.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Tokens & pairing" href="/server/tokens-and-pairing">
    Mint the first token, join clients, and understand the admission
    rules every route enforces.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Users, seats & SSO" href="/server/users-sso">
    The user directory, workspace grants, seat limits, passwords, and
    OpenID Connect login for the served web app.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Backup & restore" href="/server/backup-restore">
    Checksummed snapshots of the daemon's state, and how a restore
    behaves.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Upgrade" href="/server/upgrade">
    Move to the newest release with one command, or opt into
    unattended upgrades.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Observability" href="/server/observability">
    The audit log, the /metrics snapshot, and the daemon's log format.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Stuck right now? Start at
[troubleshooting](/server/troubleshooting) — every error message the
daemon prints is findable there verbatim.