CARE Desktop

Run the whole CARE stack on one computer for a small clinic — offline, on the local WiFi, at https://care.local.

Backend + frontend + database + file storage, all on a single server, reachable by every phone/laptop on the same WiFi. No internet after setup, no cloud, no accounts. Drive it with a small desktop app (a few clicks) or the care CLI.

Traffic is served over HTTPS with a self-signed certificate from a built-in local CA (browsers need a real https:// origin for the camera/scanner and secure cookies — see architecture.md). The server trusts its own cert automatically; other devices trust it in two taps from the built-in https://care.local/setup page.

It's one Go program — no shell scripts, no Rust — that runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

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📖 Documentation

Full docs are in docs/:

🍎 Install on macOS	🪟 Install on Windows
🐧 Install on Linux	⚙️ Configuration — every env var
🏗️ Architecture — how it works	💻 The care CLI
💾 Backups & restore	🔧 Troubleshooting
🛠️ Building from source

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Quick start

1. Install Docker + Git on the server computer, and start Docker. Any Docker engine works — Docker Engine, Colima, Podman, or Docker Desktop. (On Windows use Docker Desktop with WSL 2 integration — Docker installed only inside WSL isn't visible to the app. Other devices reaching a Windows server may need Bonjour or a static IP — see the Windows guide.)
2. Download the app for your OS from the Releases page (or build it — see building.md).
3. Open it and complete the wizard: the three checks (Docker, Git, care.local) must be green, then click Install & Start.
4. Open https://care.local/ on any device on the WiFi → log in admin / admin → change the password.

First setup downloads + builds CARE (~10–20 min, needs internet once). After that it runs fully offline.

Trust the certificate (first visit on each device)

The site uses a self-signed cert, so a brand-new device shows a security warning until it trusts the clinic's local CA once:

• The server computer trusts itself automatically the first time the stack starts — nothing to do there.

• Every other device: open https://care.local/setup and pick the device type.

  • Windows / macOS / Linux: download the installer and run it once. It carries the certificate inside it and puts it in the right store for you (no wizard, no keychain dialog). The manual steps are still there if you'd rather.
  • Android / iOS: follow the two-tap instructions (download root.crt, then trust it). On iOS this installs a configuration profile named "CARE Desktop Local CA"; Safari is required, and you must then enable it under Settings → General → About → Certificate Trust Settings.

  After that the padlock is green and the camera/file features work.

Uninstalling from the app also removes the certificate from the server machine. Other devices keep their copy — remove it from their trust store manually if needed.

Prefer a terminal? See the CLI guide:

cd care-desktop && care setup && care start

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What's in this repo

Path	What
app/	the Go app — Wails desktop GUI + the care engine/CLI
docker-compose.yml	the stack: db, redis, minio, backend, celery×2, frontend, caddy, backup
backend.env / frontend.env	all clinic settings (reference)
versions.env	which CARE versions to build
clinic_settings.py	Django settings for the LAN — production settings served over https://, self-signed cert
Caddyfile	the reverse proxy: https://care.local (one origin), :80 redirect, and the cert-trust bootstrap
setup/	the https://care.local/setup install page that hands the local CA to new devices
load_test_fixtures.sh	dev-only: seed the running backend with CARE's sample data (see below)
minio/, scripts/	MinIO bucket setup + the daily backup loop (run inside containers)
docs/	all documentation

The repo-root files are the single source of truth; the app embeds them at build time. The core CARE app is never modified.

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Loading sample data (for testing)

To try the clinic with realistic data, seed CARE's fixtures into the running stack:

./load_test_fixtures.sh

It installs faker into the backend container (ephemeral) and runs CARE's manage.py load_fixtures under the deployment settings with DEBUG=True. The seeded data lands in the postgres volume, so it persists across restarts (only the ephemeral faker install is lost when the container is recreated). Start the stack first (care start or the app), then run the script. See building.md for details.

This is a development/demo tool — don't seed fixtures onto a real clinic's data.

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Highlights

• Offline-first — everything stays in the building; no internet needed to use it.
• HTTPS on the LAN — a self-signed cert from a built-in CA; new devices trust it in two taps from care.local/setup, and the server trusts itself automatically.
• No-terminal option — the desktop app installs + runs CARE with a few clicks.
• Cross-platform — one Go binary per OS; Windows needs no WSL or bash. On Windows the wizard also checks the network profile and offers a one-click Fix (Public→Private + open ports) so other devices can reach the clinic, and stages the kit under the home dir (Docker can't read %AppData% bind mounts). See install-windows.md.
• Data-safe — daily DB + file backups with one-click restore; the app never deletes your volumes.
• No core changes — runs CARE's own images/source, configured from the outside.