FAQ

General

Is OpenJam free?

Yes. OpenJam is open-source and licensed under the MIT License.

Can I use it commercially?

Yes. The MIT license allows commercial use.

What browsers are supported?

OpenJam works in modern browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge. WebSocket support is required.

Deployment

Do I need Redis?

No. Redis is optional. Without it, session caching and multi-server pub/sub are disabled, but single-server deployment works fine.

Do I need MinIO?

No. MinIO is optional. Without it, board export (PNG/JSON) is disabled. All other features work normally.

Can I use an external PostgreSQL?

Yes. Set the DATABASE_URL environment variable to your PostgreSQL connection string.

Can I use AWS S3 instead of MinIO?

The MinIO client is S3-compatible. You can point MINIO_ENDPOINT to an S3-compatible endpoint and set MINIO_USE_SSL=true.

Troubleshooting

The app shows "Disconnected" in the status bar

• Check that the backend is running and accessible
• Verify CORS settings match your frontend URL
• Check browser console for WebSocket errors

My changes aren't being saved

• Ensure PostgreSQL is running and accessible
• Check the server logs for database errors
• Auto-save runs every 30 seconds; manual save with Ctrl+S

I can't see other users' cursors

• Both users must be in the same room (same URL)
• Check that WebSocket connections are established (status bar shows "Connected")

Docker build fails

• Ensure Docker and Docker Compose are up to date
• Check available disk space
• Try docker compose build --no-cache

How do I reset the database?

docker compose down -v   # Removes volumes too
docker compose up --build -d