compose-anything/apps/sim/README.md

Sim - AI Agent Workflow Builder

Open-source platform to build and deploy AI agent workflows. Developers at trail-blazing startups to Fortune 500 companies deploy agentic workflows on the Sim platform.

Features

• Visual Workflow Builder: Multi-step AI agents and tools with drag-and-drop interface
• LLM Orchestration: Coordinate LLM calls, tools, webhooks, and external APIs
• Scheduled Execution: Event-driven and scheduled agent executions
• RAG Support: First-class support for retrieval-augmented generation
• Multi-tenant: Workspace-based access model for teams
• 100+ Integrations: Connect with popular services and APIs

Requirements

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	2 cores	4+ cores
RAM	12 GB	16+ GB
Storage	20 GB SSD	50+ GB SSD
Docker	20.10+	Latest

Quick Start

# Copy environment file
cp .env.example .env

# IMPORTANT: Generate secure secrets in production
sed -i "s/your_auth_secret_here/$(openssl rand -hex 32)/" .env
sed -i "s/your_encryption_key_here/$(openssl rand -hex 32)/" .env

# Start services
docker compose up -d

# View logs
docker compose logs -f simstudio

Access the application at http://localhost:3000

Configuration

Required Environment Variables

Before deployment, update these critical settings in .env:

# Security (REQUIRED - generate with: openssl rand -hex 32)
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=<your-secret-here>
ENCRYPTION_KEY=<your-secret-here>

# Application URLs (update for production)
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=https://sim.yourdomain.com
BETTER_AUTH_URL=https://sim.yourdomain.com
NEXT_PUBLIC_SOCKET_URL=https://sim.yourdomain.com

# Database credentials (change defaults in production)
POSTGRES_USER=postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=<strong-password>
POSTGRES_DB=simstudio

Using with Ollama

Sim can work with local AI models using Ollama:

External Ollama (running on host machine):

# macOS/Windows
OLLAMA_URL=http://host.docker.internal:11434

# Linux - use your actual host IP
OLLAMA_URL=http://192.168.1.100:11434

Note

: Inside Docker, localhost refers to the container. Use host.docker.internal (macOS/Windows) or your host's IP address (Linux).

Port Configuration

Default ports can be overridden via environment variables:

SIM_PORT_OVERRIDE=3000              # Main application
SIM_REALTIME_PORT_OVERRIDE=3002     # Realtime server
POSTGRES_PORT_OVERRIDE=5432         # PostgreSQL database

Resource Limits

Adjust resource allocation based on your workload:

# Main application
SIM_CPU_LIMIT=4.0
SIM_MEMORY_LIMIT=8G

# Realtime server
SIM_REALTIME_CPU_LIMIT=2.0
SIM_REALTIME_MEMORY_LIMIT=4G

# PostgreSQL
POSTGRES_CPU_LIMIT=2.0
POSTGRES_MEMORY_LIMIT=2G

Service Architecture

The deployment consists of 4 services:

1. simstudio: Main Next.js application (port 3000)
2. realtime: WebSocket server for real-time features (port 3002)
3. migrations: Database schema management (runs once)
4. db: PostgreSQL 17 with pgvector extension (port 5432)

Common Operations

View Logs

# All services
docker compose logs -f

# Specific service
docker compose logs -f simstudio

Stop Services

docker compose down

Update to Latest Version

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Backup Database

docker compose exec db pg_dump -U postgres simstudio > backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

Restore Database

cat backup.sql | docker compose exec -T db psql -U postgres simstudio

Security Considerations

• Change default credentials: Update POSTGRES_PASSWORD in production
• Generate strong secrets: Use openssl rand -hex 32 for all secret values
• Use HTTPS: Configure reverse proxy (Nginx/Caddy) with SSL certificates
• Network isolation: Keep database on internal network
• Regular backups: Automate database backups
• Update regularly: Pull latest images to get security patches

Production Deployment

For production deployments:

1. Use reverse proxy (Nginx, Caddy, Traefik) for SSL/TLS termination
2. Configure firewall to restrict database access
3. Set up monitoring (health checks, metrics, logs)
4. Enable backups (automated PostgreSQL backups)
5. Use external database for better performance and reliability (optional)

Example Caddy configuration:

sim.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000

    handle /socket.io/* {
        reverse_proxy localhost:3002
    }
}

Troubleshooting

Models not showing in dropdown

If using external Ollama on host machine, ensure OLLAMA_URL uses host.docker.internal or your host's IP address, not localhost.

Database connection errors

• Verify PostgreSQL is healthy: docker compose ps
• Check database logs: docker compose logs db
• Ensure migrations completed: docker compose logs migrations

Port conflicts

If ports are already in use, override them:

SIM_PORT_OVERRIDE=3100 \
SIM_REALTIME_PORT_OVERRIDE=3102 \
POSTGRES_PORT_OVERRIDE=5433 \
docker compose up -d

Additional Resources

• Official Documentation: https://docs.sim.ai
• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/simstudioai/sim
• Cloud-hosted Version: https://sim.ai
• Self-hosting Guide: https://docs.sim.ai/self-hosting

License

This configuration follows the Sim project licensing. Check the official repository for license details.

Support

For issues and questions:

• GitHub Issues: https://github.com/simstudioai/sim/issues
• Documentation: https://docs.sim.ai