Reactive Resume on a VPS: Self-Hosted Resume Builder with AI Suggestions and PDF Export

By VPS.DO
October 12, 2026

Reactive Resume is a free, open-source resume builder with a polished drag-and-drop editor, 20+ templates, AI writing suggestions (optional), PDF export, and one-click public sharing links. It competes with paid services like Canva Resume ($13/month) and Zety ($24/month). Self-hosting on a VPS keeps your employment history, contact details, and career information off third-party servers.

What Reactive Resume Provides

Templates: 20+ professional templates (modern, classic, creative, ATS-friendly)
Sections: Work experience, education, skills, certifications, projects, publications, references
AI suggestions: OpenAI-powered writing improvements for bullet points (optional)
Multi-resume: Create different resumes for different job types
PDF export: One-click professional PDF generation
Public link: Share your resume via a URL without PDF download
Import: Import from LinkedIn, JSON Resume format

Step 1: Docker Compose Setup

<code">mkdir -p /opt/reactive-resume && cd /opt/reactive-resume
nano docker-compose.yml

<code">version: '3.8'

services:
  # PostgreSQL database
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: always
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: rxresume
      POSTGRES_USER: rxresume
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U rxresume"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  # MinIO for file storage (profile photos, PDF cache)
  minio:
    image: minio/minio:latest
    restart: always
    command: server /data
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:9000:9000"
      - "127.0.0.1:9001:9001"
    environment:
      MINIO_ROOT_USER: ${MINIO_USER}
      MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${MINIO_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - minio_data:/data

  # Chrome for PDF generation
  chrome:
    image: browserless/chrome:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3000:3000"
    environment:
      CONNECTION_TIMEOUT: 10000
      MAX_CONCURRENT_SESSIONS: 5

  # Reactive Resume backend
  server:
    image: amruthpillai/reactive-resume:server-latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3100:3100"
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy
    environment:
      TZ: UTC
      PORT: 3100
      NODE_ENV: production
      PUBLIC_URL: https://resume.yourdomain.com
      PUBLIC_SERVER_URL: https://resume.yourdomain.com/api
      STORAGE_URL: https://resume.yourdomain.com/minio
      CHROME_URL: ws://chrome:3000
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://rxresume:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@postgres/rxresume
      ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET: ${ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET}
      REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET: ${REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET}
      MINIO_ENDPOINT: minio
      MINIO_PORT: 9000
      MINIO_BUCKET: reactive-resume
      MINIO_ACCESS_KEY: ${MINIO_USER}
      MINIO_SECRET_KEY: ${MINIO_PASSWORD}
      # Optional: AI writing suggestions
      OPENAI_API_KEY: ${OPENAI_API_KEY:-}

  # Reactive Resume frontend
  client:
    image: amruthpillai/reactive-resume:client-latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3050:3050"
    environment:
      PORT: 3050
      NODE_ENV: production
      PUBLIC_URL: https://resume.yourdomain.com
      VITE_SERVER_URL: https://resume.yourdomain.com/api
      VITE_STORAGE_URL: https://resume.yourdomain.com/minio

volumes:
  postgres_data:
  minio_data:

<code">cat > .env << 'EOF'
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=StrongResumeDbPassword!
MINIO_USER=resumeadmin
MINIO_PASSWORD=StrongMinioPassword!
ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-key  # Optional
EOF
chmod 600 .env
docker compose up -d

Step 2: Nginx Reverse Proxy

<code">sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/reactive-resume

<code">server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name resume.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/resume.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/resume.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    client_max_body_size 10M;

    # Frontend
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3050;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }

    # Backend API
    location /api/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3100;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_read_timeout 120s;
    }

    # MinIO storage
    location /minio/ {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9000/;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
    }
}

<code">sudo certbot --nginx -d resume.yourdomain.com
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 3: Create MinIO Bucket

<code"># Initialize MinIO bucket:
docker exec minio mc alias set local http://localhost:9000 resumeadmin StrongMinioPassword!
docker exec minio mc mb local/reactive-resume
docker exec minio mc anonymous set download local/reactive-resume  # Allow public read

Step 4: Using Reactive Resume

Visit https://resume.yourdomain.com
Register an account
Dashboard → Create New Resume → choose template
Fill in sections: personal info, experience, education, skills
Drag sections to reorder, customize colors and fonts
Export PDF → high-quality, ATS-friendly PDF
Share link → public URL for online viewing

Getting Started

Reactive Resume with all its dependencies uses 500 MB–1 GB RAM total. A 2 GB Ubuntu VPS at VPS.DO handles the full stack. The headless Chrome container for PDF generation is the most RAM-intensive component (~300 MB). For personal or small team use, the free OpenAI API tier (or skipping AI features entirely) keeps operating costs to just VPS and storage.

Conclusion

Self-hosted Reactive Resume provides a professional resume building experience — polished templates, drag-and-drop editing, PDF export, and shareable links — without sending career history, contact information, and employment details to subscription-based services. For job seekers prioritizing privacy, or organizations providing resume tools to employees, self-hosted Reactive Resume delivers full functionality at infrastructure cost only.

Reactive Resume on a VPS: Self-Hosted Resume Builder with AI Suggestions and PDF Export