Dashboard Setup

The dashboard is served by the UpNext server included with the upnext package. Start it with the CLI and open it in your browser.

Prerequisites

Redis 7+ — shared queue backend (same instance your workers use)
PostgreSQL or SQLite — for job history and metadata

Start the server

SQLite (quickest)
PostgreSQL

SQLite requires no additional setup — just start the server:

UPNEXT_DATABASE_URL=sqlite+aiosqlite:///upnext.db \
UPNEXT_REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379 \
upnext server start --port 8080

If you’re using PostgreSQL, run database migrations first, then start the server:

# Run migrations
UPNEXT_DATABASE_URL=postgresql+asyncpg://user:pass@localhost:5432/upnext \
upnext server db upgrade head

# Start the server
UPNEXT_DATABASE_URL=postgresql+asyncpg://user:pass@localhost:5432/upnext \
UPNEXT_REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379 \
upnext server start --port 8080

Need a local PostgreSQL instance? You can start one quickly with Docker:

docker run --rm -p 5432:5432 \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=upnext \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=upnext \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=upnext \
  postgres:17-alpine

The dashboard is available at http://localhost:8080.

Authentication

By default, authentication is disabled. To secure the dashboard and API, add UPNEXT_AUTH_ENABLED=true and UPNEXT_API_KEY when starting the server. See the Authentication guide for full details on enabling auth, managing users, and rotating keys.

Connect your services

Point your workers and APIs at the server so they report to the dashboard:

UPNEXT_URL=http://localhost:8080 \
UPNEXT_REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379 \
upnext run service.py

If authentication is enabled, include UPNEXT_API_KEY:

UPNEXT_URL=http://localhost:8080 \
UPNEXT_API_KEY=your-secret-key \
UPNEXT_REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379 \
upnext run service.py

Once connected, your workers, APIs, jobs, and metrics appear in the dashboard in real-time.

Dashboard

​Prerequisites

​Start the server

​Authentication

​Connect your services

Prerequisites

Start the server

Authentication

Connect your services