Mike (MikeOSS) is an open-source legal AI platform for document review, drafting, and legal research.

It has a Next.js frontend, an Express backend, Supabase Auth/Postgres, and Cloudflare R2-compatible object storage.

Website: mikeoss.com

Quick start with Docker

Run the whole application stack with one command and no Supabase or object storage account. docker-compose.yml includes Supabase (Postgres, Auth, the data API, and a gateway), RustFS, Mailpit, and the frontend/backend. The schema loads itself on first boot.

Copy the local environment templates:

cp .env.example .env
cp backend/.env.example backend/.env

Edit backend/.env:

• Set DOWNLOAD_SIGNING_SECRET and USER_API_KEYS_ENCRYPTION_SECRET to separate values generated with openssl rand -hex 32.
• Add an Anthropic, Gemini, or OpenAI API key, unless you plan to use Ollama exclusively.

Docker Compose supplies the local Supabase and object-storage settings, so leave those values unchanged. Then start the stack:

docker compose up --build

Open http://localhost:3000 and sign up.

Local service endpoints:

Service	Address	Notes
Mike	http://localhost:3000	Main application
Supabase API	http://localhost:54321	Auth and data API gateway
Postgres	localhost:54322	Host access for database tools
RustFS console	http://localhost:9001	rustfsadmin / rustfsadmin
Mailpit	http://localhost:8025	Captured local auth email

What happens when you register

1. You sign up with email + password at localhost:3000.
2. The Auth service confirms the local user automatically.
3. The app signs you in without an email-confirmation step.

To test the confirmation-email flow, set GOTRUE_MAILER_AUTOCONFIRM=false in the root .env and run docker compose up -d --force-recreate auth. The confirmation message will be available in Mailpit at http://localhost:8025; no mail leaves your machine.

Mailpit catches auth email such as email-change messages and confirmation messages when autoconfirm is disabled. No email leaves your machine.

Local models via Ollama

Ollama models are detected dynamically — whatever you have installed (ollama list) shows up in every model picker under a Local group, with no API key. The backend reaches Ollama on the host at http://host.docker.internal:11434/v1 (override with OLLAMA_BASE_URL) and exposes the live list at GET /models/ollama.

Just pull a model and it appears after a refresh:

ollama pull qwen3.6

Notes:

• Models that support tool-calling can drive the full assistant; ones that don't (e.g. phi3:mini) still work for plain chat — the backend retries without tools automatically.
• Quality and speed depend on the local model; large models are noticeably slower for tabular review (which runs the model across many cells).

The Supabase JWT secret and the anon/service_role keys baked into docker-compose.yml / .env.example are the well-known Supabase local demo values — convenient for localhost, but regenerate them before exposing this anywhere.

Contents

• frontend/ - Next.js application
• backend/ - Express API, Supabase access, document processing, and database schema
• word-addin/ - Microsoft Word task pane add-in (currently in beta)
• backend/schema.sql - Supabase schema for fresh databases
• backend/migrations/ - dated, incremental schema migrations for existing deployments
• docker-compose.yml - complete local application and infrastructure stack
• docs/ - testing, deployment safety, and feature-specific guides

Microsoft Word add-in (Beta)

The Mike Word add-in is currently in beta. It brings Mike into a Word task pane for chatting about the open document, running quick actions and workflows, attaching supporting files, and applying suggested changes as tracked edits.

See the Word add-in guide for prerequisites, local development, sideloading, and troubleshooting instructions.

System Workflows

Mike's system assistant and tabular review workflows are maintained in the Open-Legal-Products/mike-workflows repository.

Manual or production deployment

Use this path when connecting Mike to managed Supabase and S3-compatible storage rather than the infrastructure bundled in Docker Compose.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20 or newer
• npm
• git
• A Supabase project
• A Cloudflare R2 bucket, MinIO bucket, or another S3-compatible bucket
• At least one supported model provider API key, or an accessible Ollama server
• Optional: a CourtListener API token for case law lookup and citation verification
• LibreOffice installed locally if you need DOC/DOCX to PDF conversion

Database setup

For a new Supabase database, open the Supabase SQL editor and run:

-- copy and run the contents of:
-- backend/schema.sql

The schema file is for fresh deployments and already includes the latest database shape.

For an existing database, do not run the full schema over production data. Apply the files in backend/migrations/ dated after the deployed Mike version, in filename order. Migration files use the format YYYYMMDD_<name>.sql and are written to be safe to re-run.

Environment

Copy the maintained examples:

cp backend/.env.example backend/.env
cp frontend/.env.local.example frontend/.env.local

Edit both files with the credentials and URLs for your deployment. The comments in each example describe required and optional values.

These three NEXT_PUBLIC_* variables are required when running npm run build --prefix frontend. Next.js embeds public environment values in the browser bundle at build time, so setting them only when starting or deploying an already-built application is too late. Production builds fail with a list of missing variables instead of producing a bundle that cannot connect to Supabase or the backend API.

Supabase values come from the project dashboard. Use the project URL for SUPABASE_URL and NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL, the service-role key for backend SUPABASE_SECRET_KEY, and the anon/public key for NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_DEFAULT_KEY.

Model-provider keys and the CourtListener token can be configured globally in backend/.env or per user under Account > Models & API Keys. If a provider key is configured globally, the matching account field is read-only.

Supabase Auth, rather than the Mike backend, sends signup, email-change, and password-recovery messages. Configure production SMTP in the Supabase dashboard if those flows are enabled. Mike does not require a Resend API key.

Install dependencies

npm install --prefix backend
npm install --prefix frontend

Run locally without Docker

Start the backend and frontend in separate terminals:

npm run dev --prefix backend

npm run dev --prefix frontend

Open http://localhost:3000.

For production, build both packages and run their start scripts through your process manager or deployment platform. The repository also includes Dockerfiles for both applications.

Tamper-Evident Export

Project exports include SHA-256 hashes for document versions and can optionally be signed with Ed25519. See Tamper-evident exports for configuration, verification, and security considerations.

CourtListener Integration

Mike can use CourtListener for US case law citation verification, case fetching, targeted opinion search, and case-law panels in assistant responses.

To enable live CourtListener access, set COURTLISTENER_API_TOKEN in backend/.env and restart the backend. Users can also add their own token under Account > Models & API Keys when the instance does not provide one globally.

Fresh databases created from backend/schema.sql already include the CourtListener support tables. Existing deployments should apply the matching dated migration in backend/migrations/ before enabling the feature.

Bulk data is optional. When COURTLISTENER_BULK_DATA_ENABLED=true, Mike first tries local Supabase/R2 data before falling back to CourtListener's API:

• citation metadata is read from public.courtlistener_citation_index
• case cluster metadata is read from public.courtlistener_opinion_cluster_index
• cached opinion JSON is read from the R2 prefix courtlistener/opinions/by-cluster/{clusterId}/{opinionId}.json

If you do not import bulk data, leave COURTLISTENER_BULK_DATA_ENABLED=false; live CourtListener tools still work with a valid token, subject to CourtListener rate limits.

First Run

1. Sign up in the app.
2. If you did not set provider keys in backend/.env, open Account > Models & API Keys and add an Anthropic, Gemini, or OpenAI key.
3. To use legal research tools, add a CourtListener token in backend/.env or Account > Models & API Keys.
4. Create or open a project and start chatting with documents.

Troubleshooting

A local account says “Email not confirmed.” Docker autoconfirms newly created accounts by default. Accounts created before autoconfirm was enabled remain unconfirmed. Confirm the existing message in Mailpit, or create a new local account. To test confirmation deliberately, set GOTRUE_MAILER_AUTOCONFIRM=false and recreate the auth service.

Production auth email does not arrive. Authentication email is sent by Supabase Auth. Check the email-provider settings and configure production SMTP in the Supabase dashboard.

Port 54322 is already allocated. Another local Postgres or Supabase stack is using Mike's default host port. Stop that stack or start Mike with a different mapping, for example DB_PORT=54323 docker compose up --build.

The model picker shows a missing-key warning. Add a key under Account > Models & API Keys, or configure it in backend/.env and restart the backend.

CourtListener tools say the API token is missing. Set COURTLISTENER_API_TOKEN in backend/.env, or add a token under Account > Models & API Keys. Restart the backend after changing .env.

CourtListener bulk lookup is not returning local results. Confirm COURTLISTENER_BULK_DATA_ENABLED=true, the two CourtListener tables are populated, and opinion JSON exists under courtlistener/opinions/by-cluster/ in R2. Mike falls back to the live API when bulk data is unavailable and a token is configured.

DOC or DOCX conversion fails. Install LibreOffice and restart the backend so the conversion command is available on the process path.

Useful Checks

npm run build --prefix backend
npm run build --prefix frontend
npm run lint --prefix frontend