Host the Web Client

Run the RabiRiichi-Web client yourself — handy for local development, for connecting to a ws://localhost server without browser security issues, or for self-hosting your own front end.

First complete Install from scratch (Node.js 20+ and the RabiRiichi-Web checkout with submodules initialized).

One-time setup

# from the RabiRiichi-Web checkout
npm install
npm run proto:gen    # generate TS bindings from the proto submodule

proto:gen populates src/generated/ (git-ignored). Run it once after cloning, and again whenever the protos change.

Development server (hot reload)

npm run dev

Vite serves the client at http://localhost:5173 (it prints the exact URL). Because it's served over plain HTTP, it can connect to a local ws:// server — so this is the recommended way to play against a server you're running locally.

On the connect screen, pick the Local (localhost:5150) preset (or any custom ws:///wss:// address), enter a nickname, and connect.

Production build

npm run build      # type-check + bundle into dist/
npm run preview    # preview the built site locally

dist/ is a fully static site — host it on any static host (Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, GitHub Pages, nginx, etc.). No server-side runtime is required for the client itself.

Serve over HTTPS to reach wss:// servers

If you host the client over HTTPS, browsers will only allow secure wss:// WebSocket connections. Make sure the server you connect to is reachable over wss:// (i.e. behind TLS). A plain ws:// server is only reachable from a client served over http:// (like npm run dev).

Choosing which server the client talks to

The server address is not compiled into the client — it's selected at connect time. The client ships three presets (Rabimimi production, Rabimimi Dev, and Local localhost:5150) and lets users add and save custom ws:///wss:// addresses in their browser.

If you're self-hosting and want your own default presets, edit src/config/servers.ts in the web repo before building:

export const DEFAULT_SERVERS: DefaultServer[] = [
  { id: 'mine', nameKey: 'connect.officialServer', url: 'wss://your-domain' },
  { id: 'local', nameKey: 'connect.localServer', url: 'ws://localhost:5150' },
];

Useful scripts

Script	Description
npm run dev	Vite dev server with hot reload.
npm run build	Type-check + production build into dist/.
npm run preview	Preview the production build locally.
npm run proto:update	Update the proto git submodule.
npm run proto:gen	Regenerate TS bindings from the protos.
npm run lint / npm run typecheck	Lint / type-check.

See the web repo's README.md and TESTING.md for local multiplayer testing and the offline replay viewer.