Microsoft-Rewards-Bot/docs/docker.md

🐳 Docker Guide

Run the script in a container

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⚡ Quick Start

1. Create Required Files

Ensure you have:

• src/accounts.jsonc with your credentials
• src/config.jsonc (uses defaults if missing)

2. Start Container

docker compose up -d

3. View Logs

docker logs -f microsoft-rewards-bot

That's it! Script runs automatically.

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🎯 What's Included

The Docker setup:

• ✅ Chromium Headless Shell — Lightweight browser
• ✅ Scheduler enabled — Daily automation
• ✅ Volume mounts — Persistent sessions
• ✅ Force headless — Required for containers

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📁 Mounted Volumes

Host Path	Container Path	Purpose
./src/accounts.jsonc	/usr/src/.../src/accounts.jsonc	Account credentials (read-only)
./src/config.jsonc	/usr/src/.../src/config.jsonc	Configuration (read-only)
./sessions	/usr/src/.../sessions	Cookies & fingerprints

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🌍 Environment Variables

Set Timezone

services:
  rewards:
    environment:
      TZ: Europe/Paris

Use Inline JSON

docker run -e ACCOUNTS_JSON='{"accounts":[...]}' ...

Custom Config Path

docker run -e ACCOUNTS_FILE=/custom/path/accounts.json ...

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🔧 Common Commands

# Start container
docker compose up -d

# View logs
docker logs -f microsoft-rewards-bot

# Stop container
docker compose down

# Rebuild image
docker compose build --no-cache

# Restart container
docker compose restart

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🛠️ Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
"accounts.json not found"	Ensure ./src/accounts.jsonc exists and is mounted in compose.yaml
"Browser launch failed"	Ensure FORCE_HEADLESS=1 is set
"Permission denied"	Check file permissions (chmod 644 accounts.jsonc config.jsonc)
Scheduler not running	Verify schedule.enabled: true in config
Cron not working	See Cron Troubleshooting above

Debug Container

# Enter container shell
docker exec -it microsoft-rewards-bot /bin/bash

# Check Node.js version
docker exec -it microsoft-rewards-bot node --version

# View config (mounted in /src/)
docker exec -it microsoft-rewards-bot cat src/config.jsonc

# Check if cron is enabled
docker exec -it microsoft-rewards-bot printenv | grep USE_CRON

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🎛️ Custom Configuration

Option 1: Built-in Scheduler (Default, Recommended)

Pros:

• ✅ Lighter resource usage
• ✅ Better integration with config.jsonc
• ✅ No additional setup needed
• ✅ Automatic jitter for natural timing

Default docker-compose.yml:

services:
  rewards:
    build: .
    environment:
      TZ: "Europe/Paris"
    command: ["npm", "run", "start:schedule"]

Configure schedule in src/config.jsonc:

{
  "schedule": {
    "enabled": true,
    "useAmPm": false,
    "time24": "09:00",
    "timeZone": "Europe/Paris"
  }
}

Option 2: Native Cron (For Traditional Cron Users)

Pros:

• ✅ Familiar cron syntax
• ✅ Multiple daily runs with standard crontab
• ✅ Native Linux scheduling

Setup:

1. Enable cron in docker-compose.yml:

services:
  rewards:
    build: .
    environment:
      TZ: "Europe/Paris"
      USE_CRON: "true"
      CRON_SCHEDULE: "0 9,16,21 * * *"  # 9 AM, 4 PM, 9 PM daily
      RUN_ON_START: "true"                # Optional: run once on start

2. Cron Schedule Examples:

Schedule	Description	Cron Expression
Daily at 9 AM	Once per day	0 9 * * *
Twice daily	9 AM and 9 PM	0 9,21 * * *
Three times	9 AM, 4 PM, 9 PM	0 9,16,21 * * *
Every 6 hours	4 times daily	0 */6 * * *
Weekdays only	Mon-Fri at 8 AM	0 8 * * 1-5

Use crontab.guru to validate your cron expressions.

3. Rebuild and restart:

docker compose down
docker compose build --no-cache
docker compose up -d

4. Verify cron is running:

# Check container logs
docker logs -f microsoft-rewards-bot

# Should see: "==> Cron mode enabled"

# View cron logs inside container
docker exec microsoft-rewards-bot tail -f /var/log/cron.log

Option 3: Single Run (Manual)

services:
  rewards:
    build: .
    command: ["node", "./dist/index.js"]

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🔄 Switching Between Scheduler and Cron

From Built-in → Cron:

1. Add USE_CRON: "true" to environment
2. Add CRON_SCHEDULE with desired timing
3. Rebuild: docker compose up -d --build

From Cron → Built-in:

1. Remove or comment USE_CRON variable
2. Configure schedule in src/config.jsonc
3. Rebuild: docker compose up -d --build

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🐛 Cron Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Cron not executing	Check docker logs for "Cron mode enabled" message
Wrong timezone	Verify TZ environment variable matches your location
Syntax error	Validate cron expression at crontab.guru
No logs	Use docker exec <container> tail -f /var/log/cron.log
Multiple executions	Check for duplicate cron entries

Debug Cron Inside Container

# Enter container
docker exec -it microsoft-rewards-bot /bin/bash

# Check cron is running
ps aux | grep cron

# View installed cron jobs
crontab -l

# Check cron logs
tail -100 /var/log/cron.log

# Test environment variables
printenv | grep -E 'TZ|NODE_ENV'

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📚 Next Steps

Need 2FA?
→ Accounts & TOTP Setup

Want notifications?
→ Discord Webhooks

Scheduler config?
→ Scheduler Guide

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