Still Here

A safety check-in app. Set a daily check-in time — if you miss it, an escalation chain fires automatically.

Escalation chain: push notification → email → SMS to emergency contacts → non-emergency call

Stack

• Backend — FastAPI + Celery (worker + beat scheduler)
• Database — Supabase Postgres (raw SQL, no ORM)
• Frontend — Vanilla JS PWA
• Notifications — Firebase Cloud Messaging
• SMS — Twilio
• Email — Resend
• Auth — JWT + Auth0 (optional) + API keys
• Infra — Docker Compose, Redis broker

Running locally

Copy .env.example to .env and fill in credentials, then:

docker-compose up --build

Service	URL
App	http://localhost:8000/app
API docs	http://localhost:8000/docs

Individual services: docker-compose up api / worker / beat

Self-hosting on a Linux VPS

1. Deploy the app

git clone https://github.com/xyzmr114/stillhere.git
cd stillhere
nano .env          # fill in your credentials
docker-compose up -d --build

Still Here is now running at http://localhost:8000 on your VPS. The escalation chain (SMS, email, push) works over the public internet automatically via Twilio and Resend — no extra setup needed.

2. Give trusted contacts private access via Netcore

Rather than exposing your server to the public internet, Still Here uses Netcore for private peer-to-peer access. This lets your emergency contacts and family reach your instance directly — no open ports, no domain, no reverse proxy.

On Alice's VPS (the host):

# Download the ncp2p binary from https://www.netcore.network/services
unzip ncp2p-linux-x86_64.zip
chmod +x ncp2p

./ncp2p initDb           # generates your identity + assigns internal IP
sudo ./ncp2p setup $USER # sets up WireGuard interface (re-run after reboot)
./ncp2p                  # starts the Netcore client

Open http://127.0.0.1:8080/ → Identity tab → Copy peer_user JSON and send it to Bob.

On Bob's machine (the contact):

1. Download and run ncp2p from netcore.network/services
2. Open http://127.0.0.1:8080/ → Peer users → paste Alice's JSON → Add
3. Copy his own peer_user JSON and send it back to Alice
4. Alice adds Bob the same way

Once both sides have added each other, Bob can open Alice's Still Here instance directly:

http://<alice-internal-ip>:8000/portal   # family portal — live check-in status
http://<alice-internal-ip>:8000/app      # full app

Alice's internal IP is shown in http://127.0.0.1:8080/ under Overview.

The connection is direct and encrypted — traffic goes machine-to-machine, never through a central server. Bob can only reach Alice's instance while both have ncp2p running.

3. Architecture with Netcore

Alice's VPS
├── docker-compose (Still Here on :8000)
└── ncp2p (WireGuard mesh, internal IP e.g. 10.202.48.44)
        │
        │  encrypted P2P tunnel
        │
Bob's laptop
└── ncp2p → browser → http://10.202.48.44:8000/portal

Twilio/Resend escalation still fires over the public internet as normal. Netcore is only for human access — family portal, setup, monitoring.

Tests

pytest backend/tests/

Tests hit a real database (configured in .env) — no mocks.

Environment variables

See .env.example for all required variables. Key ones:

Variable	Purpose
DATABASE_URL	Supabase Postgres connection string
JWT_SECRET	Token signing secret
REDIS_URL	Redis broker
FIREBASE_API_KEY	FCM web client key
FIREBASE_VAPID_KEY	Push subscription key
TWILIO_*	SMS + voice calls
RESEND_API_KEY	Transactional email
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY	Payments