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Caddy Reverse Proxy

TriviaFlow uses Caddy as its production web server. It acts as a Reverse Proxy that sits in front of the application containers.

We chose Caddy for two specific reasons:

  1. Automatic HTTPS: It automatically obtains and renews SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt.
  2. Performance: It serves static files (Images, CSS, JS) directly, relieving the Python application from this task.

Configuration Overview​

The configuration is located in the Caddyfile at the root of your project. This file maps your domains to the internal Docker services.

Main Application Block​

This block controls the main game interface.

quiz.your-domain.com {
    
    # 1. Static Files (Performance)
    # Serves CSS/JS directly from the disk, bypassing Python.
    handle_path /static/* {
        root * /srv/static
        file_server
    }

    # 2. Media Uploads (Images)
    # Serves uploaded quiz images.
    handle_path /media/* {
        root * /srv/media
        file_server
    }

    # 3. Application Proxy
    # Forwards all other requests (WebSockets, HTML) to Django.
    reverse_proxy web:8000
}

Database Admin Block (Optional)​

If you want to use a graphical interface to manage your database (phpMyAdmin):

# db.your-domain.com {
#    reverse_proxy phpmyadmin:80
# }

Security Tip: It is recommended to keep this disabled or protected when not in use.

How It Works​

Automatic HTTPS (SSL)​

When you start the container, Caddy will attempt to contact Let's Encrypt to generate a certificate for the domains listed in the Caddyfile.

  • Requirement: Your DNS records must point to the server before you start Caddy.
  • Storage: Certificates are stored in a Docker volume (caddy_data), so they persist even if you restart the container.

Static File Serving​

In a production Django environment, the application server (Daphne/Gunicorn) should not serve static files.

  1. When you run the container, python manage.py collectstatic runs automatically.
  2. It copies all CSS/JS files to a shared volume (static_volume).
  3. Caddy mounts this volume and serves files starting with /static/ directly to the user.

Troubleshooting​

If your site is not reachable via HTTPS, check the Caddy logs:

docker compose logs caddy

Common Errors:

  • "Challenge failed": Usually means your DNS A-Record is incorrect or hasn't propagated yet.
  • "Connection refused": The Python container (web) might be crashing. Check docker compose logs web.