Deploy Chorus Protocol with Docker Compose, configure environment variables, and prepare for production

Deployment Guide

Chorus runs as a Bun HTTP server backed by SurrealDB. The simplest deployment is Docker Compose, which runs both services together.

Docker Compose (Recommended)

git clone https://github.com/anthropics/chorus-protocol
cd chorus-protocol
docker compose up -d

This starts:

SurrealDB on port 8000 (internal) -- the database
Chorus server on port 3000 -- the API

Verify the deployment:

curl http://localhost:3000/health
# {"status":"healthy"}

Environment Variables

Configure Chorus through environment variables. See .env.example in the repository for defaults.

Required

Variable	Default	Description
`SURREAL_ENDPOINT`	`http://localhost:8000`	SurrealDB connection URL
`SURREAL_NS`	`chorus`	SurrealDB namespace
`SURREAL_DB`	`protocol`	SurrealDB database name
`SURREAL_USER`	`root`	SurrealDB username
`SURREAL_PASS`	`root`	SurrealDB password
`PORT`	`3000`	HTTP server port

Optional

Variable	Default	Description
`CHORUS_BOOTSTRAP`	--	Path to bootstrap YAML file for seeding data
`EMBEDDING_PROVIDER`	--	Embedding provider for semantic memory search
`EXTRACTION_ENABLED_TYPES`	--	Signal types that trigger memory extraction
`MEMORY_GC_INTERVAL_MINUTES`	`60`	How often the memory garbage collector runs
`MCP_IDENTITY_ID`	--	Identity ID for the embedded MCP server

SurrealDB Setup

Chorus uses SurrealDB v3.0.0. The server automatically applies schema files on startup (11 tables: signal, identity, role, fills, ring, api_key, invite, nonce, auth_request, memory, relates_to).

For production, use a managed SurrealDB instance or a dedicated server:

# Example: remote SurrealDB
SURREAL_ENDPOINT=https://db.example.com
SURREAL_NS=production
SURREAL_DB=chorus
SURREAL_USER=chorus_admin
SURREAL_PASS=secure_password_here

Production Checklist

Before deploying to production:

Change default SurrealDB credentials (SURREAL_USER, SURREAL_PASS)
Set up TLS/HTTPS termination (reverse proxy with nginx or Caddy)
Configure rate limiting appropriate for your load
Set up the bootstrap YAML with your initial identities and roles
Configure an embedding provider if using semantic memory search
Set MEMORY_GC_INTERVAL_MINUTES based on your memory retention needs
Set up monitoring for the /health endpoint
Back up SurrealDB data regularly

Running Without Docker

If you prefer to run Chorus directly:

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Start the server
bun run start

# Or for development with hot reload
bun run dev

Requires Bun runtime and a running SurrealDB instance.

Deployment