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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Appwrite Has a Free API — Self-Hosted Backend That Does Everything

#backend #selfhosted #webdev #tutorial

Appwrite is a self-hosted backend-as-a-service with auth, databases, storage, functions, and real-time — all in one Docker deployment. It's Firebase you actually own.

Why Appwrite?

  • Self-hosted — Docker install, you own everything
  • Everything built-in — auth, DB, storage, functions, messaging
  • 14+ SDKs — web, mobile, server-side, CLI
  • Free tier (cloud) — 75K requests, 2GB bandwidth, 10GB storage

Quick Start (Self-Hosted) 

docker run -it --rm \
  --volume /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  --volume "$(pwd)"/appwrite:/usr/src/code/appwrite:rw \
  --entrypoint="install" \
  appwrite/appwrite:1.6.0

# Console at http://localhost
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JavaScript SDK 

npm install appwrite
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import { Client, Account, Databases } from 'appwrite';

const client = new Client()
  .setEndpoint('https://cloud.appwrite.io/v1')
  .setProject('YOUR_PROJECT_ID');

const account = new Account(client);
const databases = new Databases(client);
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Auth 

// Sign up
await account.create('unique()', 'alice@example.com', 'password', 'Alice');

// Login
await account.createEmailPasswordSession('alice@example.com', 'password');

// OAuth
await account.createOAuth2Session('github');

// Get current user
const user = await account.get();

// Logout
await account.deleteSession('current');
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Database 

// Create document
const post = await databases.createDocument(
  'main', // database ID
  'posts', // collection ID
  'unique()', // document ID
  {
    title: 'Hello Appwrite',
    content: 'This is great',
    published: true,
  }
);

// List with filters
const posts = await databases.listDocuments('main', 'posts', [
  Query.equal('published', true),
  Query.orderDesc('$createdAt'),
  Query.limit(10),
]);

// Update
await databases.updateDocument('main', 'posts', postId, {
  title: 'Updated Title',
});

// Delete
await databases.deleteDocument('main', 'posts', postId);
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Storage 

import { Storage } from 'appwrite';
const storage = new Storage(client);

// Upload file
const file = await storage.createFile(
  'images', // bucket ID
  'unique()',
  document.getElementById('upload').files[0]
);

// Get file URL
const url = storage.getFileView('images', file.$id);

// Get preview (with transforms)
const preview = storage.getFilePreview('images', file.$id, 200, 200);
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Real-Time 

const unsubscribe = client.subscribe(
  'databases.main.collections.messages.documents',
  (response) => {
    if (response.events.includes('databases.*.collections.*.documents.*.create')) {
      console.log('New message:', response.payload);
    }
  }
);
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Functions (Serverless) 

// functions/hello/src/main.js
export default async ({ req, res, log }) => {
  const { name } = JSON.parse(req.body);
  log(`Hello ${name}`);
  return res.json({ message: `Hello, ${name}!` });
};
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Need backend data from the web? Check out my Apify actors for web scraping + Appwrite integration. Email spinov001@gmail.com for custom solutions.

Appwrite, Supabase, or Firebase — which BaaS do you choose? Share below!

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