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Appsmith Architecture

Overview

Appsmith is an open-source low-code platform for rapidly building internal tools, admin panels, and dashboards. It connects to databases and APIs to create CRUD applications with drag-and-drop UI components.

Deployment

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|                  Nginx Reverse Proxy                         |
|                   (TLS-terminated)                           |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------+
                          |
                          v
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|                     Appsmith CE                              |
|                  (Docker Container)                          |
|                                                               |
|  +---------+  +---------+  +---------+  +---------+          |
|  |  Nginx  |  | Backend |  | MongoDB |  |  Redis  |          |
|  | (front) |  | (Java)  |  | (embed) |  | (embed) |          |
|  +---------+  +---------+  +---------+  +---------+          |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------+

All components run inside a single container. Nginx serves the React frontend and proxies API requests to the Java backend on localhost:8080. Embedded MongoDB and Redis provide data and session storage — no external databases required.

Ports

Port Service Notes
80 Nginx (internal) Frontend + API proxy
8080 Backend Java Spring Boot server (internal only)

Only port 80 is exposed internally; the reverse proxy handles TLS and external routing.

Data Persistence

The named Docker volume appsmith_stacks is mounted at /appsmith-stacks inside the container. This preserves:

Directory Contents
/appsmith-stacks/data/mongodb All application data, pages, queries, w\idgets
/appsmith-stacks/data/plugins Plugin configurations
/appsmith-stacks/configuration App server settings
/appsmith-stacks/certificate SSL certificates (not used — reverse proxy handles TLS)

Authentication

Appsmith uses built-in email/password authentication (not Auth0 SSO). Access control:

  • Signup disabled (APPSMITH_SIGNUP_DISABLED=true) — new accounts created via admin invitation only
  • Admin emails (APPSMITH_ADMIN_EMAILS) — designated superusers on first login
  • Internal tools access — SSO not required; tools are standalone internal applications

Environment Variables

Variable Description
APPSMITH_CUSTOM_DOMAIN Full HTTPS domain for redirects and URL generation
APPSMITH_SIGNUP_DISABLED Disable public registration (true recommended)
APPSMITH_ADMIN_EMAILS Comma-separated list of superuser emails
APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD Encryption key for sensitive data
APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_SALT Encryption salt for sensitive data

Dependencies

Appsmith — standalone, no external services needed
    ├── Internal: MongoDB (embedded)
    ├── Internal: Redis (embedded)
    └── External: Nginx reverse proxy (TLS termination)

Connection to NGINX Reverse Proxy

nginx.conf server block:
  server_name: appsmith.loadingtechnology.app
  proxy_pass:  http://loading-appsmith:80

All traffic goes through the reverse proxy which terminates TLS and forwards to the internal nginx on port 80.

Backup

  • Application data: Stored in MongoDB inside the appsmith_stacks Docker volume
  • Backup strategy:
    1. Docker volume backup: docker run --rm -v appsmith_stacks:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/appsmith-backup.tar.gz -C /data .
    2. Or export apps via Appsmith's built-in JSON export feature
  • Frequency: Weekly volume backup recommended

Upgrade

Appsmith upgrades follow the standard service pattern:

cd /opt/loading-appsmith
docker compose pull          # Get latest image
docker compose down          # Stop container
docker compose up -d         # Start with new image
# Embedded MongoDB handles schema migrations automatically

For major version bumps, take a volume backup first.

Technical Notes

  • Appsmith's embedded MongoDB uses WiredTiger storage engine — adequate for small-to-medium deployments
  • For high-traffic production use, consider external MongoDB (not implemented — Appsmith CE supports external MongoDB via APPSMITH_MONGODB_URI)
  • The container supervisor manages all internal processes (nginx, backend, MongoDB, Redis)
  • First boot takes ~2 minutes as embedded MongoDB initializes