Deploy your own FangDash instance to Cloudflare Workers and D1 — wire up the API, web app, and PartyKit multiplayer server with wrangler and bun.

TL;DR — FangDash runs entirely on Cloudflare (Workers + D1). You deploy three services: the API, the web app, and the PartyKit multiplayer server. bun run ship deploys all three at once.

Estimated time: about 20 minutes

FangDash is a free, open-source, MIT-licensed multiplayer runner, so you can host your own copy. Everything runs on Cloudflare's infrastructure. Here's how to deploy an instance end to end.

What You'll Need

Node.js >= 20
Bun (see package.json for the pinned version)
Cloudflare account (the free tier works)
Twitch Developer application (for OAuth sign-in)
PartyKit account (for real-time multiplayer)

Step 1 of 3 — Deploy the API

The API is a Hono app on Cloudflare Workers backed by a D1 (SQLite) database.

Create a D1 database via the Cloudflare dashboard (Workers & Pages → D1) or the CLI:

bunx wrangler d1 create fangdash-db

Update apps/api/wrangler.toml with your database ID and production domains. The [[d1_databases]] block should look like:

[[d1_databases]]
binding = "DB"
database_name = "fangdash-db"
database_id = "your-database-id-here"
migrations_dir = "drizzle/"

And the production environment variables:

[env.production.vars]
ENVIRONMENT = "production"
BETTER_AUTH_URL = "https://your-api-domain.workers.dev"
WEB_URL = "https://your-web-domain.workers.dev"

Run migrations against the remote database:

bunx wrangler d1 migrations apply fangdash-db --remote

Set your secrets:

bunx wrangler secret put BETTER_AUTH_SECRET --env production
bunx wrangler secret put TWITCH_CLIENT_ID --env production
bunx wrangler secret put TWITCH_CLIENT_SECRET --env production
bunx wrangler secret put RACE_TOKEN_SECRET --env production

RACE_TOKEN_SECRET signs the short-lived HMAC token that authorizes each PartyKit connection. It must be identical in the API and the PartyKit server (Step 3) — if the two values differ, multiplayer clients are rejected and races never start.

Generate strong secrets with openssl rand -base64 32 — run it once for BETTER_AUTH_SECRET and again for RACE_TOKEN_SECRET, and paste each value when prompted.

Deploy:

bun run ship:api

Step 2 of 3 — Deploy the Web App

The web app is Next.js 16, deployed to Cloudflare Workers via the OpenNext adapter.

Set your API URL as a build-time environment variable:

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://your-api-domain.workers.dev bun run ship:web

Or add it to apps/web/.env.local first:

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://your-api-domain.workers.dev
NEXT_PUBLIC_PARTYKIT_HOST=fangdash.your-username.partykit.dev

Deploy:

bun run ship:web

Step 3 of 3 — Deploy PartyKit

PartyKit runs the real-time multiplayer WebSocket server (the RaceServer room).

Set your PartyKit token:

export PARTYKIT_TOKEN=your-token

Give PartyKit the same RACE_TOKEN_SECRET you set on the API so it can verify race connection tokens:

bunx partykit secret put RACE_TOKEN_SECRET

Deploy:

bun run ship:party

All three services are deployed. Your FangDash instance should now be live — visit your web domain, sign in with Twitch, and start a race to verify everything works.

Deploy Everything at Once

bun run ship

This runs all three deploy commands (ship:api, ship:web, ship:party) in sequence.

Environment Variables Reference

API (`apps/api`)

Variable	Type	Where set	Description
`BETTER_AUTH_SECRET`	Secret	`wrangler secret put`	Long random string for signing sessions
`TWITCH_CLIENT_ID`	Secret	`wrangler secret put`	Twitch OAuth app client ID
`TWITCH_CLIENT_SECRET`	Secret	`wrangler secret put`	Twitch OAuth app client secret
`RACE_TOKEN_SECRET`	Secret	`wrangler secret put`	Signs race connection tokens — must match PartyKit
`BETTER_AUTH_URL`	Plaintext	`wrangler.toml`	Public URL of the API worker
`WEB_URL`	Plaintext	`wrangler.toml`	Public URL of the web worker (for CORS + redirects)
`ENVIRONMENT`	Plaintext	`wrangler.toml`	`"development"` or `"production"`

Web (`apps/web`)

Variable	Type	Where set	Description
`NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL`	Plaintext	`.env.local` / CI env	Public URL of the API worker
`NEXT_PUBLIC_PARTYKIT_HOST`	Plaintext	`.env.local` / CI env	PartyKit host (e.g. `fangdash.user.partykit.dev`)

PartyKit (`apps/party`)

Variable	Type	Where set	Description
`PARTYKIT_TOKEN`	Secret	shell env	Deploy token from your PartyKit account
`RACE_TOKEN_SECRET`	Secret	`partykit secret put`	Verifies race connection tokens — must match the API

Local Development

Copy the example files and fill in your values:

cp apps/api/.dev.vars.example apps/api/.dev.vars
cp apps/web/.env.example apps/web/.env.local

Then run the whole stack locally with bun run dev (web on 3000, api on 8787, party on 1999, docs on 3001).

Setting Up Twitch OAuth

Twitch is the only sign-in provider (via Better Auth), so you need a Twitch application before authentication works.

Go to the Twitch Developer Console.

Create a new application.

Add both OAuth Redirect URLs — local development http://localhost:8787/api/auth/callback/twitch and production https://your-api-domain.workers.dev/api/auth/callback/twitch.

Copy the Client ID and Client Secret into your API secrets.

The Twitch OAuth redirect URL must match your deployed API domain exactly — including the protocol (https://) and the path /api/auth/callback/twitch. If sign-in redirects to a blank page or an error, this mismatch is almost always the cause.

Troubleshooting

Error / Symptom	Cause	Fix
OAuth redirects to blank page	Redirect URL mismatch in Twitch dev console	Ensure the redirect URL matches your API domain exactly, including protocol and `/api/auth/callback/twitch` path
"Auth not configured" in prod	Missing Cloudflare secrets	Run all `wrangler secret put` commands: `BETTER_AUTH_SECRET`, `TWITCH_CLIENT_ID`, `TWITCH_CLIENT_SECRET`
D1 "table not found"	Database migrations not applied	Run `bunx wrangler d1 migrations apply fangdash-db --remote`
Race clients rejected / kicked	`RACE_TOKEN_SECRET` differs across services	Set the same secret on the API and PartyKit, then redeploy both
PartyKit connection refused	Wrong host or missing token	Verify `NEXT_PUBLIC_PARTYKIT_HOST` matches your PartyKit deployment URL and `PARTYKIT_TOKEN` is set
CORS errors in browser console	`WEB_URL` mismatch	Update `WEB_URL` in `wrangler.toml` `[env.production.vars]` to match your actual web domain exactly
Admin panel shows "Forbidden"	User role is not `admin` or `dev`	Run `bun run promote-admin YourUsername --remote` (see Admin docs)
Multiplayer rooms won't start	PartyKit not deployed	Run `bun run ship:party` and verify the deployment URL
Score submission fails silently	Rate limit hit (429)	Wait 60 seconds and retry, or check the response for a `429` status and `Retry-After` header
"FORBIDDEN" on all actions	Account is banned	Check the user's ban status in the admin panel or D1 database
Build fails with type errors	Dependencies out of date	Run `bun install`, then `bun run typecheck` to identify issues

PartyKit Deployment Details

To expand on Step 3 above:

Get a PartyKit token: Sign up at partykit.io, open your account settings, and generate an API token.
Set the token:

export PARTYKIT_TOKEN=your-token-here

Match the race token secret: Give PartyKit the same RACE_TOKEN_SECRET as the API — otherwise the party server can't verify the HMAC connection tokens the web client sends as ?token=.

bunx partykit secret put RACE_TOKEN_SECRET

Deploy:

bun run ship:party

Verify deployment: After deploying, PartyKit outputs your host URL. It looks like:

fangdash.your-username.partykit.dev

Update your web app: Set NEXT_PUBLIC_PARTYKIT_HOST in apps/web/.env.local to this URL (without the https:// prefix), then redeploy the web app for the change to take effect.
Test the connection: Open your web app, start a multiplayer race, and watch the browser console for WebSocket connection messages.

Self-Host FangDash on Cloudflare