Activepieces

Overview

Activepieces is an open-source workflow automation platform built with TypeScript. It ships a visual flow builder, 400+ pre-built pieces (integrations), MCP server support, code steps, and conditional branching. It is self-hosted for free with no limit on flows or runs, or used as a managed cloud service.

Instructions

Self-host with Docker Compose

Generate the two secrets first, then start the stack:

export AP_ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 16)   # 256-bit key, 32 hex chars
export AP_JWT_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  activepieces:
    image: ghcr.io/activepieces/activepieces:latest
    ports: ["8080:80"]
    environment:
      AP_ENGINE_EXECUTABLE_PATH: dist/packages/engine/main.js
      AP_API_URL: http://localhost:8080/api
      AP_FRONTEND_URL: http://localhost:8080
      AP_ENCRYPTION_KEY: ${AP_ENCRYPTION_KEY}
      AP_JWT_SECRET: ${AP_JWT_SECRET}
      AP_POSTGRES_DATABASE: activepieces
      AP_POSTGRES_HOST: postgres
      AP_POSTGRES_PORT: "5432"
      AP_POSTGRES_USERNAME: activepieces
      AP_POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      AP_REDIS_HOST: redis
      AP_REDIS_PORT: "6379"
      AP_EXECUTION_MODE: UNSANDBOXED
    depends_on: [postgres, redis]

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: activepieces
      POSTGRES_USER: activepieces
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    volumes: [pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data]

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine

volumes:
  pgdata:

export POSTGRES_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -hex 16)
docker compose up -d

AP_ENCRYPTION_KEY and AP_JWT_SECRET must stay the same for the life of the deployment: rotating the encryption key makes every stored connection undecryptable, and rotating the JWT secret signs everyone out.

Build a flow with a code step

Code steps run Node.js inside the flow:

// Inside an Activepieces Code step
export const code = async (inputs: { lineItems: { sku: string; price: number; qty: number }[] }) => {
  const total = inputs.lineItems.reduce((sum, item) => sum + item.price * item.qty, 0)
  return {
    total,
    overThreshold: total > 500,
  }
}

Build a custom piece (integration)

// src/index.ts
import { createPiece, PieceAuth } from '@activepieces/pieces-framework'
import { newInvoiceTrigger } from './triggers/new-invoice'
import { createCustomerAction } from './actions/create-customer'

export const billingAuth = PieceAuth.SecretText({
  displayName: 'API Key',
  required: true,
  description: 'Find this under Settings > API Keys in your billing dashboard',
})

export const billingPiece = createPiece({
  displayName: 'Billing Connector',
  logoUrl: 'https://cdn.example.invalid/billing-logo.png',
  auth: billingAuth,
  authors: ['terminal-skills'],
  triggers: [newInvoiceTrigger],
  actions: [createCustomerAction],
})

Scaffold a new piece with npx activepieces pieces create from inside a clone of the monorepo (the CLI adds the folder under packages/pieces/community/).

Examples

Example 1: Self-hosting for a small team

Request: "Stand up Activepieces for our team so we stop paying for Zapier."

Run the Docker Compose stack above, visit http://localhost:8080, and create the first (owner) account — Activepieces turns the first signup into the platform admin. Invite teammates from Settings > Team once the project exists.

Example 2: Notify Slack when a large order comes in

Request: "When a Shopify order over $500 comes in, post it to our #orders Slack channel."

1. Trigger: Shopify piece, "New Order".
2. Code step: compute total and overThreshold as in the snippet above.
3. Branch: only continue when overThreshold is true.
4. Action: Slack piece, "Send Message to Channel", channel #orders, message built from the order fields.

Activepieces runs this on every new Shopify order and only posts when the condition matches.

Guidelines

• AP_EXECUTION_MODE: UNSANDBOXED is fine for a trusted single-tenant self-host; do not expose an unsandboxed instance to untrusted users who can write code steps.
• Store AP_ENCRYPTION_KEY, AP_JWT_SECRET, and the Postgres password as secrets (Docker secrets, a .env file kept out of version control, or your platform's secret manager) — never commit them.
• The official image moved to ghcr.io/activepieces/activepieces; older guides pointing at activepieces/activepieces on Docker Hub may be stale.
• Activepieces Cloud has a free tier with a limited monthly task allowance; self-hosting removes that limit but means you run and patch Postgres, Redis, and the app yourself.
• For a production deployment behind a reverse proxy, set AP_FRONTEND_URL and AP_API_URL to the public HTTPS domain, not localhost, or OAuth connections and webhooks will break.
• Prefer the built-in pieces over a custom one; only build a custom piece when no existing piece covers the API you need.