App Platform Quickstart

App Platform is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering that allows developers to publish code directly to DigitalOcean servers without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

Create an App

1. Go to DigitalOcean Control Panel and click Create App.

2. Select the source for your app. You can choose a GitHub repository, a GitLab repository, a container image you uploaded to DigitalOcean Container Registry or Docker Hub, or a sample app we provide.

3. Select the repository that contains your source code and specify the branch or tag in your repository that contains your app’s source code.

   • For a monorepo, specify the folder that contains the source. See Deploy from a Monorepo for more information on how App Platform builds apps from monorepos.

   App Platform inspects the code and app resources, and selects an appropriate runtime environment (such as Node, Ruby, etc). If you need to override this, upload a Dockerfile to your branch and restart the app creation process.

   If you’d like to automatically re-deploy your app when pushing to this branch/tag, select Autodeploy and click Next.

4. Configure resources for your app.

   • On the Resources page, click the Edit link beside app resource components to configure their details such as the component’s instance size (the container size and its cost), HTTP routes, the run command, or the HTTP port. App Platform displays build and run commands that it detected, which you can customize as needed. Refer to the cloud-native buildpacks for instructions for specific buildpacks. For Dockerfile-based builds, entering a run command overrides the Dockerfile’s entrypoint.
   • Add additional resources by expanding the Add Resource (Optional) section and selecting the Detect from Source Code option. Then, click Add. If your app needs a database, select the Database option to add a dev database or an existing managed database from your DigitalOcean account. The connection details for your database are accessible via environment variables so that you can access them in your code.

   Click Next.

5. If you want to use resource- and app-level environment variables, on the Environment page, click Edit to supply them. Click the Encrypt checkbox to ensure a variable’s value is encrypted in the App Spec. Click Next.

6. If you want to change the default name or project for your app, or choose the region where you would like your app to be hosted, click Edit on the Info page. Click Save and then click Next.

   • The option to select a region is not available for static sites. Static components are served on DigitalOcean’s global CDN.

7. Review your app’s resources, environment variables and billing information on the Review page and then click Create Resources.

Once your app deploys, you can view the app at the URL at the top of the app’s Overview page.

Scale an App

1. Go to https://cloud.digitalocean.com/apps, click on your app, and click on the Settings tab.
2. Click on the resource you’d like to scale and click the Edit link next to the Scaling heading.
3. Scale your application horizontally by increasing the number of containers, or vertically by increasing the container size.
4. Click Save.

Add a Database to an App

1. Go to https://cloud.digitalocean.com/apps and click on your app.
2. Click the Create button and choose the Create/Attach Database option.
3. Give your database a name, select an engine, and select a plan.
4. Click Create and Attach.
5. View connection details for your database by clicking on your new database resource.

Register a Custom Domain

1. Go to https://cloud.digitalocean.com/apps, click on your app, and click on the Settings tab.
2. Then click the Edit link to the right of Domains, then click Add Domain.
3. Enter your domain name at the top of the screen, then follow the onscreen instructions to create a CNAME record with your DNS provider.
4. Click Add Domain.

Destroy an App

1. Go to https://cloud.digitalocean.com/apps, and click your app.
2. Click the Settings tab, and scroll down to the red Destroy button.
3. Enter the app name to confirm you’d like to delete the app and all its associated resources. Then click Destroy.