- The setup form, active chapter tab, verse range selection, typed/bulk/ cross-chapter chunk creation, reorder, and delete move out of App. - Setup now opens on the chapter holding the chunk last studied (e.g. after Back to Chunks), and the Add Chapter form suggests the chapter after the project's last one instead of repeating the current one. - openNewProject/goHome/resume/import no longer reset setup state by hand; SetupPage starts fresh each time it opens. - Tests: add-chapter default, Back to Chunks chapter. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Bible Study App
A self-hosted Bible study tool with notes, projects, and user accounts.
Requirements
- Node.js v18 or higher — nodejs.org
- npm (bundled with Node.js)
- GCC / make (only needed for production/server installs — required to build the
better-sqlite3native module)
Quick Start
git clone https://github.com/nmemmert/study-bible-project.git
cd study-bible-project
bash setup.sh
setup.sh installs dependencies, builds the optimized frontend, and runs one
production server (frontend + API) on http://localhost:5173. Set APP_PORT
to use a different port. If the build fails, the previously running server is
left untouched. bash restart.sh pulls the latest code and does the same.
Stop / logs:
kill $(cat .api.pid)
tail -f .api.log
Development mode (hot reload)
bash setup.sh --dev
Starts the API on http://localhost:3001 and the Vite dev server on http://localhost:5173. Dev mode is much slower, so don't use it for real users.
Production Install (Ubuntu / systemd)
Installs the app as a persistent systemd service under /opt/study-app.
# Install Node.js 20 (if not already installed)
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
# Install build tools (required for better-sqlite3)
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential python3
# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/nmemmert/study-bible-project.git
cd study-bible-project
sudo bash deploy/install.sh
The installer will:
- Install Node.js dependencies and build the frontend
- Create a
study-appsystem user - Register and start a systemd service
Useful commands after install:
systemctl status study-app # Check service status
journalctl -u study-app -f # Stream logs
systemctl restart study-app # Restart after an update
Open the firewall port (if needed):
sudo ufw allow 3001/tcp
sudo ufw reload
The app listens on port 3001 by default. Set the PORT environment variable in the systemd unit to change it.
Updating (Production)
cd /path/to/study-bible-project
git pull
sudo bash deploy/install.sh
The installer preserves the session secret across updates so logged-in users are not signed out.
Migrating to a New Machine
On the old machine — create a backup:
npm run backup
This creates study-app-backup_<timestamp>.zip in the project root.
On the new machine — restore after cloning and installing:
Development:
npm run restore study-app-backup_<timestamp>.zip
Production (after sudo bash deploy/install.sh completes):
sudo bash scripts/restore-data.sh study-app-backup_<timestamp>.zip --production
See scripts/backup-data.sh and scripts/restore-data.sh for details.
Project Structure
├── server/ # Express API + SQLite database
│ └── data/ # projects.db lives here (gitignored)
├── src/ # React frontend (Vite)
├── deploy/ # systemd service unit + install script
├── scripts/ # backup / restore helpers
└── setup.sh # Development quick-start
License
Private / personal use.