Sails CRM

Sails CRM is a lightweight, open-source CRM system built with Django and Vue.js. Originally developed as a SaaS platform, it has been transformed into a self-hosted, open-source project.

Features

• Contact Management: Keep track of people and companies.
• Deal Pipeline: Manage your sales process through various stages.
• Task Management: Assign and track tasks for yourself and your team.
• Notifications: Stay updated on important events.
• Modern Backend: Powered by Django 4.2 LTS and Python 3.12+.
• Self-Hosted: Full control over your data with Docker support.

Screenshots

Quick Start with Docker

The easiest way to get Sails CRM running is using Docker Compose.

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/dbtiunov/sails-crm.git
   cd sails-crm
   

2. Start the application:

   docker-compose up -d
   

   This will start the web application, database (PostgreSQL), Redis cache, and Celery workers.

3. Create your account: Open http://localhost:8000 and use the Create account form. The first user becomes the account owner automatically; no management command is needed.

The Compose configuration is intended for local evaluation and development. It enables Django debug mode and uses public example credentials; do not expose it directly to the internet.

Manual Installation

If you prefer to install manually, ensure you have Python 3.12+, PostgreSQL, and Redis installed.

1. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

2. Configure environment variables: Create a .env file or set the following environment variables:

   • DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_HOST, DB_PORT
   • REDIS_URL
   • REDIS_CACHE_URL (defaults to redis://127.0.0.1:6379/1)
   • SECRET_KEY
   • LANGUAGE_CODE (defaults to en; use ru for Russian)
   • TIME_ZONE (defaults to UTC)
   • APP_URL, SUPPORT_EMAIL, ADMIN_EMAIL
   • DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL, WELCOME_FROM_EMAIL, NOTIFY_FROM_EMAIL, REMIND_FROM_EMAIL, SERVER_EMAIL
   • EMAIL_HOST, EMAIL_PORT, EMAIL_USE_TLS, EMAIL_HOST_USER, EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD

   Copy .env.example to .env and replace the example addresses and SMTP credentials with values for your installation. Email addresses are not hard-coded into the application.

3. Run migrations and collect static files:

   python manage.py migrate
   python manage.py collectstatic
   

4. Start the server:

   gunicorn project.wsgi:application
   

Production deployment

The repository includes docker-compose.prod.yml and a Caddy reverse proxy that obtains and renews TLS certificates automatically. PostgreSQL and Redis are only reachable on the private Compose network. Application data, uploaded media, Redis data, and Caddy certificates are stored in named volumes.

Server prerequisites

• A Linux server with Docker Engine and Docker Compose v2.
• A domain name with an A/AAAA record pointing to the server.
• Inbound TCP ports 80 and 443 and UDP port 443 allowed by the firewall.
• Outbound access for pulling images and obtaining TLS certificates.

Clone the repository on the server:

git clone https://github.com/dbtiunov/sails-crm.git
cd sails-crm
cp .env.production.example .env.production

Edit .env.production before starting. At minimum, replace DOMAIN, LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL, SECRET_KEY, DB_PASSWORD, ALLOWED_HOSTS, CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS, APP_URL, and the SMTP settings. Generate secrets, for example, with openssl rand -base64 48. Keep .env.production readable only by the deployment user:

chmod 600 .env.production

Validate and start the stack:

docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml config
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml build
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml ps

The web container waits for PostgreSQL and Redis, applies migrations, collects static files, creates compressor bundles, and starts Gunicorn. Caddy starts after the web healthcheck passes. Open https://YOUR_DOMAIN and register the first user, who becomes the account owner.

Inspect logs when troubleshooting:

docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml logs -f web celery caddy

Updates

Back up the database and uploaded media before updating. Then pull, rebuild, and recreate the services:

git pull --ff-only
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml build
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d
docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml ps

Migrations and static asset preparation run automatically when the web service starts. Review migration plans before a major update with:

docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml run --rm web python manage.py migrate --plan

Backup and restore

Create a PostgreSQL backup without publishing the database port:

docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec -T db \
  sh -c 'pg_dump -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d "$POSTGRES_DB" -Fc' > sails-crm.dump

Back up the media_data volume as well; database backups do not contain uploaded files. Test the restore process regularly on a separate stack.

To restore a custom-format database backup into an empty database:

docker compose --env-file .env.production -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec -T db \
  sh -c 'pg_restore -U "$POSTGRES_USER" -d "$POSTGRES_DB" --clean --if-exists' \
  < sails-crm.dump

Security settings

Production Compose enforces DEBUG=False, secure session/CSRF cookies, an explicit host allowlist, trusted HTTPS origins, and proxy-aware HTTPS handling. After confirming HTTPS works for the final domain, set SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS=31536000. Enable subdomains or HSTS preload only if every affected hostname is permanently HTTPS-capable.

Operations

• Back up PostgreSQL and media/, encrypt the backups, and test restores.
• Monitor HTTP errors, worker failures, queue depth, disk usage, and TLS certificate expiry.
• Regularly update base images and Python dependencies and run CI before rollout.
• Restrict Django admin and operational endpoints at the network layer where possible.
• Plan rollback together with database recovery because some migrations may require restoring the pre-deployment backup.

Development

The CRM frontend uses vendored Vue 1.x and JavaScript assets from static/. There is no separate frontend build step.

Run the backend system check without external services:

python manage.py check --settings=project.settings_test

Run the test suite against PostgreSQL with Docker:

docker compose --profile test run --rm test

For a local PostgreSQL instance, the test settings accept TEST_DB_NAME, TEST_DB_USER, TEST_DB_PASSWORD, TEST_DB_HOST, and TEST_DB_PORT. Django creates and destroys a separate test_-prefixed database.

Third-party frontend components and their licenses are documented in THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md.

Localization

English is the source language and the default UI language. Russian translations are stored only in locale/ru/LC_MESSAGES/django.po and djangojs.po. Django templates use {% translate %} / {% blocktranslate %}, Python uses gettext or gettext_lazy, and legacy JavaScript uses the shared i18n adapter. The same adapter builds locale objects for Select2, Moment, FullCalendar, datetimepicker, and daterangepicker.

After adding or changing translatable strings, update and compile the catalogs:

make i18n-update
make i18n-check
make i18n-compile

The update command extracts JavaScript calls and gettext calls embedded in the legacy Vue template HTML while preserving source references. The check rejects fuzzy or missing translations, fixed ru-RU, first-party Cyrillic literals, and standalone widget locale bundles. Vendored library bodies are excluded because they are immutable checksum-pinned third-party sources; they are never used as translation catalogs.

Set LANGUAGE_CODE=ru to start in Russian. The language selector on auth pages and in the CRM shell posts to /i18n/setlang/ with CSRF protection and reloads the current URL so Django, JavaScript, and widgets use one locale.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.