Deployment Guide

This guide covers deploying PokeDexter for development, testing, or running your own instance.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Version	Notes
Node.js	22+	Required for server
npm	8+	Comes with Node.js
PM2	Latest	Process manager (optional but recommended)
nginx	Latest	Reverse proxy (for production)
Git	Latest	For cloning repos

Install Prerequisites

# Node.js 22 (using nvm)
nvm install 22
nvm use 22
 
# PM2
npm install -g pm2
 
# nginx (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install nginx

Repository Setup

PokeDexter consists of two repositories:

# Clone both repos
git clone <pokedexter-server-repo> pokedexter
git clone <pokedexter-client-repo> pokedexter-client

Server Setup

1. Install Dependencies

cd pokedexter
npm ci

2. Build

npm run build

3. Configure

Edit config/config.js:

// Essential settings
exports.port = 8000;
exports.bindaddress = '0.0.0.0';
 
// For development/private servers
exports.noguestsecurity = true;  // Allow login without auth server
exports.noipchecks = true;       // Allow same-IP battles (for testing)

4. Environment Variables

Create .env in the root:

# Solana Configuration
SOLANA_RPC_URL=https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com
USDC_MINT=EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v
 
# Wagering Configuration
HOUSE_CUT_PERCENT=5
HOUSE_WALLET_ADDRESS=YourWalletAddressHere
MIN_WAGER_USD=1
MAX_WAGER_USD=100
 
# Facilitator
FACILITATOR_URL=https://x402.dexter.cash

5. Start the Server

Development:

node pokemon-showdown start

Production (PM2):

pm2 start pokemon-showdown --name pokedexter-game -- start
pm2 save

The server runs on port 8000 by default.

The fake login server allows instant usernames without registration.

1. Start the Server

# In the pokedexter directory
node fake-login-server.js

Or with PM2:

pm2 start fake-login-server.js --name pokedexter-login
pm2 save

The login server runs on port 8001 by default.

Client Setup

1. Install Dependencies

cd pokedexter-client
npm ci

2. Configure

Edit play.pokemonshowdown.com/config/config.js:

Config.defaultserver = {
  id: 'pokedexter',
  host: 'your-domain.com',      // Your domain
  port: 443,                     // HTTPS port
  httpport: 443,
  altport: 80,
  prefix: '/showdown',
  registered: true
};
 
Config.routes = {
  root: 'your-domain.com',
  client: 'your-domain.com',
  dex: 'dex.pokemonshowdown.com',      // Can use official
  replays: 'replay.pokemonshowdown.com', // Can use official
};

3. Build

node build

4. Serve Static Files

The built client is static HTML/JS/CSS. Serve via nginx:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com;
    root /path/to/pokedexter-client/play.pokemonshowdown.com;
    index index.html;
    
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Nginx Reverse Proxy (Production)

For production, use nginx to handle SSL and proxy to the game server:

# /etc/nginx/sites-available/pokedexter
 
# HTTP → HTTPS redirect
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name poke.your-domain.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}
 
# Main HTTPS server
server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name poke.your-domain.com;
 
    # SSL certificates (Let's Encrypt)
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/poke.your-domain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/poke.your-domain.com/privkey.pem;
 
    # Client static files
    root /path/to/pokedexter-client/play.pokemonshowdown.com;
    index index.html;
 
    # Serve static files
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
 
    # WebSocket proxy to game server
    location /showdown {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:8000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_read_timeout 86400;
    }
}

Enable the site:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/pokedexter /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

SSL with Let's Encrypt

# Install certbot
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
 
# Get certificate
sudo certbot --nginx -d poke.your-domain.com
 
# Auto-renewal is set up automatically

PM2 Process Management

View Running Processes

pm2 list

View Logs

pm2 logs pokedexter-game
pm2 logs pokedexter-login

Restart

pm2 restart pokedexter-game
pm2 restart pokedexter-login

Stop

pm2 stop pokedexter-game
pm2 stop pokedexter-login

Startup Script

Make PM2 start on boot:

pm2 startup
# Follow the instructions it gives you
pm2 save

Directory Structure

After setup, your directories should look like:

/home/user/
├── pokedexter/                    # Game server
│   ├── server/
│   ├── sim/
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── config.js              # Server config
│   ├── .env                       # Environment variables
│   ├── fake-login-server.js
│   └── pokemon-showdown           # Entry point
│
└── pokedexter-client/             # Client
    └── play.pokemonshowdown.com/
        ├── config/
        │   └── config.js          # Client config
        ├── js/                    # Built JavaScript
        ├── style/                 # CSS
        └── index.html

Testing Your Deployment

1. Check Server is Running

curl http://localhost:8000
# Should return something (not connection refused)

curl "http://localhost:8001/?act=getassertion&userid=testuser"
# Should return: testuser,0,

3. Check Client Loads

Visit https://poke.your-domain.com in browser.

4. Test a Battle

Open two browser windows (or use incognito)
Pick different usernames
Challenge one from the other
Battle should work

5. Test Wallet Connection

/connectwallet YourSolanaAddressHere
/mywallet

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused"

Check the game server is running: pm2 list
Check the port: netstat -tlnp | grep 8000
Check firewall: sudo ufw status

"WebSocket connection failed"

Check nginx WebSocket config (Upgrade headers)
Check SSL certificate is valid
Try clearing browser cache

"User not found"

Both users must be connected to the same server
Check both have picked usernames

"Cannot find module"

# In the problematic directory
rm -rf node_modules
npm ci

Logs

Check logs for errors:

pm2 logs pokedexter-game --lines 100
pm2 logs pokedexter-login --lines 100

Production Checklist

Before going live with wagering:

SSL configured and working
PM2 startup script enabled
.env has real wallet addresses
HOUSE_WALLET_ADDRESS is your actual wallet
Tested wager flow end-to-end
Backup strategy for config files
Monitoring/alerting set up
Persistence layer for escrow keys (critical!)

Deployment

Architecture

Escrow System

Roadmap

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