To get started locally, you'll need Docker installed along with Docker Compose. You will also need a free Clerk account for user authentication, even for private deployments. Trackables uses Clerk to handle secure sessions, 2FA, and identity administration out of the box.

Create a new application in your Clerk dashboard. Once created, locate your Publishable Key and Secret Key from the API Keys page. Keep these handy for the .env file.

Trackables syncs user data to its local database using webhooks. In the Clerk dashboard, navigate to Webhooks and create a new endpoint.

• Endpoint URL: https://<your-domain>/api/clerk/webhook (If testing fully local without a tunnel, you can use a tool like ngrok or localtunnel, or disable local webhook validation during dev).
• Events to listen to: user.created, user.updated, user.deleted.

Upon saving, reveal the Signing Secret starting with whsec_ and save it for the .env file.

Trackables requires PostgreSQL as the primary data store and Redis for caching and job queuing. The provided Docker Compose handles both automatically, mapping them respectively to default ports. For production, you may choose to use managed services.