A self-hosted, real-time collaborative travel planner — with maps, budgets, packing lists, a journal, and AI built in.

     
 

---

---

What you get

See all features

🧭 Trip planning Drag & drop planner — organise places into day plans with reordering and cross-day moves Interactive map — Leaflet or Mapbox GL with 3D buildings, terrain, photo markers, clustering, route visualization Place search — Google Places (photos, ratings, hours) or OpenStreetMap (free, no API key) Place import — shared Google Maps / Naver Maps lists, plus GPX and KML/KMZ/GeoJSON map files Day notes — timestamped, icon-tagged notes with drag-and-drop reordering Route optimisation — auto-sort places and export to Google Maps Weather forecasts — 16-day via Open-Meteo (no key) + historical climate fallback Category filter — show only matching pins on the map	🧳 Travel management Reservations — flights, accommodations, restaurants with status, confirmation numbers, files; import from booking confirmation emails and PDFs (KDE Itinerary) Costs — track and split trip expenses (Splitwise-style): per-person / per-day breakdowns, settle-up, multi-currency Packing lists — categories, templates, user assignment, progress tracking Bag tracking — optional weight tracking with iOS-style distribution Document manager — attach docs, tickets, PDFs to trips / places / reservations (≤ 50 MB each) PDF export — full trip plan as PDF with cover page, images, notes
👥 Collaboration Real-time sync — WebSocket. Changes appear instantly across all connected users Multi-user trips — invite members with role-based access Invite links — one-time or reusable links with expiry SSO (OIDC) — Google, Apple, Authentik, Keycloak, or any OIDC provider 2FA — TOTP + backup codes Passkeys — passwordless WebAuthn login (fingerprint / face / PIN / security key), admin-toggleable Collab suite — group chat, shared notes, polls, day check-ins	📱 Mobile & PWA Installable — iOS and Android, straight from the browser, no App Store needed Offline support — Service Worker caches tiles, API, uploads via Workbox Native feel — fullscreen standalone, themed status bar, splash screen Touch optimised — mobile-specific layouts with safe-area handling
🧩 Addons (admin-toggleable) Lists — packing lists + to-dos with templates, member assignments, optional bag tracking Costs — expense tracker with splits and settle-up (who owes whom), multi-currency Documents — file attachments on trips, places, and reservations Collab — chat, notes, polls, day-by-day attendance Vacay — personal vacation planner with calendar, 100+ country holidays, approved school holiday overlays, carry-over tracking Atlas — world map of visited countries, bucket list, travel stats, streak tracking, liquid-glass UI Journey — magazine-style travel journal with entries, photos (Immich/Synology), maps, moods AirTrail — connect a self-hosted AirTrail instance to import and sync flights into reservations MCP — expose TREK to AI assistants via OAuth 2.1	🤖 AI / MCP Built-in MCP server — OAuth 2.1 authenticated. 150+ tools, 30 resources Granular scopes — 27 OAuth scopes across 13 permission groups Full automation — AI can create trips, plan days, build packing lists, manage budgets, mark countries visited Pre-built prompts — trip-summary, packing-list, budget-overview Addon-aware — exposes Atlas, Collab, Vacay when those addons are on
⚙️ Admin & customisation Dashboard views — card grid or compact list · Dark mode — full theme with matching status bar 20 languages — EN, DE, ES, FR, IT, NL, HU, RU, ZH, ZH-TW, PL, CS, AR (RTL), BR, ID, TR, JA, KO, UK, GR Admin panel — users, invites, packing templates, categories, addons, API keys, backups, GitHub history Notifications — per-user preferences across email (SMTP), webhook, ntfy, and an in-app notification center Auto-backups — scheduled with configurable retention · Units — °C/°F, 12h/24h, map tile sources, default coordinates

AI usage

We use LLM-assisted coding tools across parts of this codebase. Nothing ships that a maintainer has not read and understood: every change goes through a pull request, is reviewed and tested, and has a human who can answer for it. "The AI wrote that" is not an answer any of us would accept from ourselves.

See How we use AI in TREK for the details.

Get started in 30 seconds

ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32) docker run -d -p 3000:3000 \
  -e ENCRYPTION_KEY=$ENCRYPTION_KEY \
  -v ./data:/app/data -v ./uploads:/app/uploads mauriceboe/trek

Open http://localhost:3000. On first boot TREK seeds an admin account — if you set ADMIN_EMAIL/ADMIN_PASSWORD those are used, otherwise the credentials are printed to the container log (docker logs trek).

  ·  Docker Compose  ·  Helm / Kubernetes  ·  Install as PWA  ·  Reverse Proxy  ·  

Tech stack

Real-time sync via WebSocket (ws). Backend on NestJS 11. State with Zustand. Auth via JWT + OAuth 2.1 + OIDC + Passkeys (WebAuthn) + TOTP MFA. Weather via Open-Meteo (no key required). Maps with Leaflet and Mapbox GL.

Docker Compose (production)

Full compose example with secure defaults

services:
  app:
    image: mauriceboe/trek:latest
    container_name: trek
    read_only: true
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    cap_drop:
      - ALL
    cap_add:
      - CHOWN
      - SETUID
      - SETGID
    tmpfs:
      - /tmp:noexec,nosuid,size=64m
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - PORT=3000
      - ENCRYPTION_KEY=${ENCRYPTION_KEY:-}   # generate with: openssl rand -hex 32
      - TZ=${TZ:-UTC}
      - LOG_LEVEL=${LOG_LEVEL:-info}
      - ALLOWED_ORIGINS=${ALLOWED_ORIGINS:-}
      - APP_URL=${APP_URL:-}                 # required for OIDC + email links
      # - FORCE_HTTPS=true                   # behind a TLS-terminating proxy
      # - TRUST_PROXY=1
      # - OIDC_ISSUER=https://auth.example.com
      # - OIDC_CLIENT_ID=trek
      # - OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET=supersecret
      # - OIDC_DISPLAY_NAME=SSO
      # - OIDC_ADMIN_CLAIM=groups
      # - OIDC_ADMIN_VALUE=app-trek-admins
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
      - ./uploads:/app/uploads
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "-qO-", "http://localhost:3000/api/health"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 15s

Then:

docker compose up -d

HTTPS notes: FORCE_HTTPS=true is optional — it adds a 301 redirect, HSTS, CSP upgrade-insecure-requests, and forces the secure cookie flag. Only use it behind a TLS-terminating reverse proxy. TRUST_PROXY=1 tells the server how many proxies sit in front so real client IPs and X-Forwarded-Proto work.

Helm (Kubernetes)

helm repo add trek https://chart.liketrek.com
helm repo update
helm install trek trek/trek

See charts/README.md for values.

Install as App (PWA)

TREK works as a Progressive Web App — no App Store needed.

1. Open TREK in the browser (HTTPS required)
2. iOS: Share ▸ Add to Home Screen
3. Android: Menu ▸ Install app (or Add to Home Screen)

TREK then launches fullscreen with its own icon, just like a native app.

Updating

Docker Compose:

docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

Docker run — reuse the original volume paths:

docker pull mauriceboe/trek
docker rm -f trek
docker run -d --name trek -p 3000:3000 -v ./data:/app/data -v ./uploads:/app/uploads --restart unless-stopped mauriceboe/trek

Not sure which paths you used? docker inspect trek --format '{{json .Mounts}}' before removing the container.

Your data stays in the mounted data and uploads volumes — updates never touch it.

Important

Mount only the data and uploads directories — -v ./data:/app/data -v ./uploads:/app/uploads. Never mount a volume at /app. Doing so hides the application code shipped in the image and the container fails to start with Cannot find module 'tsconfig-paths/register'. If you previously mounted /app, switch to the two mounts above; your data in data/ and uploads/ is preserved.

Rotating the Encryption Key

If you need to rotate ENCRYPTION_KEY (e.g. upgrading from a version that derived encryption from JWT_SECRET):

docker exec -it trek node --import tsx scripts/migrate-encryption.ts

The script creates a timestamped DB backup before making changes and prompts for old + new keys (input is not echoed).

Reverse Proxy

For production, put TREK behind a TLS-terminating reverse proxy. TREK uses WebSockets for real-time sync, so the proxy must support WebSocket upgrades on /ws.

If you use the MCP addon, the proxy must also pass the Mcp-Session-Id header through in both directions on /mcp — Nginx and Caddy do this by default, but a proxy that strips it makes every tool call open a new session instead of reusing one. See the Reverse Proxy wiki page for details.

Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name trek.yourdomain.com;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name trek.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate     /etc/ssl/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/privkey.pem;

    # 500 MB covers backup-restore uploads (capped at 500 MB server-side).
    client_max_body_size 500m;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        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;
    }

    location /ws {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_read_timeout 86400;
    }

    # Only needed if you use the MCP addon. Responses are Server-Sent Events,
    # so buffering must be off or tool results arrive late.
    location /mcp {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        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_buffering off;
        proxy_read_timeout 3600s;
    }
}

Caddy

trek.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

Caddy handles TLS and WebSockets automatically.

Environment variables

Note

Variables are validated at startup (fail-fast). An unset or blank variable always falls back to its default, but a variable set to a malformed value (e.g. PORT=abc, SESSION_DURATION=bogus, DEMO_MODE=maybe) aborts boot with a report listing every offending variable. Boolean switches accept true/false, 1/0, on/off and yes/no (any casing).

Full reference

Variable	Description	Default
Core
PORT	Server port	3000
NODE_ENV	Environment (production / development)	production
ENCRYPTION_KEY	At-rest encryption key for stored secrets (API keys, MFA, SMTP, OIDC). Recommended: generate with openssl rand -hex 32. If unset, falls back to data/.jwt_secret (existing installs) or auto-generates a key (fresh installs).	Auto
TZ	Timezone for logs, reminders and cron jobs (e.g. Europe/Berlin)	UTC
LOG_LEVEL	info = concise user actions, debug = verbose details	info
TREK_WIKI_DIR	Where the in-app Help pages (/help) read their content from. TREK ships its wiki and serves it from disk, so Help always matches the version you are running — you should not need to set this. Point it at your own directory to serve custom docs. If the path does not exist, Help falls back to fetching the public GitHub wiki (needs outbound network, and tracks the latest release).	bundled wiki/
DEFAULT_LANGUAGE	Default language on the login page for users with no saved preference. Browser/OS language is auto-detected first; this is the fallback. Supported: de, en, es, fr, hu, nl, br, cs, pl, ru, zh, zh-TW, it, ar, id, tr, ja, ko, uk, gr	en
ALLOWED_ORIGINS	Comma-separated origins for CORS and email links	same-origin
FORCE_HTTPS	Optional. When true: 301-redirects HTTP to HTTPS, sends HSTS, adds CSP upgrade-insecure-requests, forces the session cookie secure flag. Useful behind a TLS-terminating reverse proxy. Requires TRUST_PROXY.	false
HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS	When true: adds the includeSubDomains directive to the HSTS header, extending HTTPS enforcement to all subdomains. Only effective when HSTS is active (FORCE_HTTPS=true or NODE_ENV=production). Leave false if you run other services on sibling subdomains over plain HTTP.	false
COOKIE_SECURE	Controls the secure flag on the trek_session cookie. Auto-derived: on when NODE_ENV=production or FORCE_HTTPS=true. Escape hatch: set false to allow session cookies over plain HTTP. Not recommended in production.	auto
SESSION_DURATION	How long a login session stays valid when "Remember me" is unchecked (the default): sets the trek_session JWT exp and issues a browser-session cookie (cleared when the browser closes). Accepts ms-style strings: 1h, 12h, 7d, 30d, 90d. Invalid values warn at startup and fall back to the default.	24h
SESSION_DURATION_REMEMBER	Session length when "Remember me" is ticked at login: a longer-lived JWT plus a persistent trek_session cookie that survives browser restarts. Same format and startup-fallback behaviour as SESSION_DURATION.	30d
TRUST_PROXY	Number of trusted reverse proxies. Tells the server to read client IP from X-Forwarded-For and protocol from X-Forwarded-Proto. Defaults to 1 in production; off in dev unless set.	1
ALLOW_INTERNAL_NETWORK	Allow outbound requests to private/RFC-1918 IPs (e.g. Immich on your LAN). Loopback and link-local addresses remain blocked.	false
APP_URL	Public base URL of this instance (e.g. https://trek.example.com). Required when OIDC is enabled; used as base for email notification links.	—
OIDC / SSO
OIDC_ISSUER	OpenID Connect provider URL	—
OIDC_CLIENT_ID	OIDC client ID	—
OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET	OIDC client secret	—
OIDC_DISPLAY_NAME	Label shown on the SSO login button	SSO
OIDC_ONLY	Force SSO-only mode: disables password login + registration, regardless of Admin > Settings. The first SSO login becomes admin.	false
OIDC_ADMIN_CLAIM	OIDC claim used to identify admin users	—
OIDC_ADMIN_VALUE	Value of the OIDC claim that grants admin role	—
OIDC_SCOPE	Space-separated OIDC scopes. Fully replaces the default — always include openid email profile.	openid email profile
OIDC_DISCOVERY_URL	Override the auto-constructed OIDC discovery endpoint (e.g. Authentik: .../application/o/trek/.well-known/openid-configuration)	—
Initial setup
ADMIN_EMAIL	Email for the first admin on initial boot. Must be set together with ADMIN_PASSWORD. If either is omitted a random password is printed to the server log. No effect once a user exists.	admin@trek.local
ADMIN_PASSWORD	Password for the first admin on initial boot. Pairs with ADMIN_EMAIL.	random
Other
DEMO_MODE	Enable demo mode (hourly data resets)	false
UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY	Optional Unsplash Access Key for trip-cover and place-image search. Without one, TREK uses Unsplash's unauthenticated endpoint, which some datacenter/VPS IPs are blocked from. Get a free key at unsplash.com/developers. Overrides any per-admin key set in Admin > Settings (where it can also be configured instead).	—
MCP_RATE_LIMIT	Max MCP API requests per user per minute	300
MCP_MAX_SESSION_PER_USER	Max concurrent MCP sessions per user. At the cap, the least-recently-active session is closed to make room	20

Data & Backups

• Database — SQLite, stored in ./data/travel.db
• Uploads — stored in ./uploads/
• Logs — ./data/logs/trek.log (auto-rotated)
• Backups — create and restore via Admin Panel
• Auto-Backups — configurable schedule and retention in Admin Panel

Data sources

The Atlas map's country and sub-national (province/county) boundaries come from geoBoundaries (Runfola et al., 2020), licensed CC BY 4.0. See NOTICE.md for full third-party attributions.

License

TREK is AGPL v3. Self-host freely for personal or internal company use. If you modify and offer TREK as a network service to third parties, your modifications must be open-sourced under the same licence.