Deploy an app from GitHub

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Before you start

• A Raff account and a project to create the app in.
• A GitHub account that can reach the repository.
• For a website, API or private service: an app that listens on the port in the PORT variable. It is 8080 unless you set another port.

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Steps

1

Open the create page

Go to Apps and click New service. The Deploy an app page asks where your code is. Choose GitHub.

2

Connect GitHub

Click Continue with GitHub, sign in, and choose the repositories Raff may see. Raff sees only the repositories you share with it. You do this once per account.

3

Pick the repository

Find the repository under Your repositories and click Import. Raff starts from the repository’s default branch.A repository is missing? Click Share more on GitHub to give Raff access to it, then Don’t see it? Refresh from GitHub.

4

Name it and say what it is

Under App, set the Name. Names are unique within a project. For a website, Address shows the https address the app gets, made from the name.Under What it is, pick one:

Choice	What it does
Website or API (default)	Gets a public https address.
Background worker	Runs all the time with no address: queues, bots, consumers.
Private service	Only your other apps can reach it.
Scheduled task	Runs on a schedule you set in Schedule (cron, in UTC: 0 2 * * * is every day at 02:00), then stops.
Runs once	A one-off task you start yourself with Run now.

See App types for how each one runs.

5

Pick a size

Under Size, pick the CPU and memory for each instance. You can change it any time; the app restarts on the new size.

Size	Suits	Per month
0.25 vCPU · 512 MB	Tests and hobby projects	$3
0.5 vCPU · 1 GB	Small sites and APIs	$6.99
1 vCPU · 2 GB	Most production apps	$16.99
2 vCPU · 4 GB	Busy apps	$27.99
4 vCPU · 8 GB	Heavy work	$61.99
8 vCPU · 16 GB	The largest apps	$119.99

6

Add a database (optional)

Under Database, keep No database, or pick Postgres, free or Postgres to create one with the app. Raff links it before the first deploy, so DATABASE_URL is already set. See Add a Postgres database to an app.

7

Check the build (optional)

The line above the app’s name shows what Raff found in the repository: Dockerfile found, or the stack it detected.Under Optional, open Build and start to change the Branch, the Folder (when the app lives in a subfolder of the repository), the Dockerfile path, the Start command or the Port. Open Environment variables to paste a .env file, one KEY=value per line. See Set app environment variables.

8

Deploy

Check the Summary on the right and click Deploy.

• Pay-as-you-go account: the app is created at once and billed by the second from your balance while it runs.
• Monthly account: you pay at checkout, then Raff builds the app and starts it.

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Verify

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After the first deploy

• Every push deploys. Push to the branch and Raff builds and deploys the new commit. The Deploys tab lists each deploy with its build log.
• Roll back. On the Deploys tab, Roll back returns to an earlier deploy that went live. Redeploy at the top of the page runs the live deploy again; it does not fetch a new commit. See Roll back a deploy.
• Change the branch or folder in Settings > Repository.
• Previews. Turn on Preview environments in Settings and every open pull request gets its own address, rebuilt on every push. The number of previews depends on the app’s size, and previews never get the app’s database link. See Preview pull requests.
• Lost GitHub access. If Raff loses access to the repository, the app page shows a banner and the app keeps running its last deploy. Give Raff access again on GitHub and click Reconnect GitHub. See Reconnect GitHub to Raff Apps.

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Use the API

curl https://api.rafftechnologies.com/api/v1/apps/services/SERVICE_ID/deployments \
  -H "X-API-Key: $RAFF_API_KEY"

curl https://api.rafftechnologies.com/api/v1/apps/deployments/DEPLOYMENT_ID/logs \
  -H "X-API-Key: $RAFF_API_KEY"

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Use the CLI

# Deploy history
raff apps deployments SERVICE_ID

# Recent runtime logs, errors only
raff apps logs SERVICE_ID --level error

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Next steps