Cloud Providers - Wasp

import useBaseUrl from '@docusaurus/useBaseUrl'; import AddExternalAuthEnvVarsReminder from './_addExternalAuthEnvVarsReminder.md' import BuildingTheWebClient from './_building-the-web-client.md' import { Required } from '@site/src/components/Tag' import { Server, Client, Database } from './DeploymentTag' import { SecretGeneratorBlock } from '../../project/SecretGeneratorBlock'

You can deploy the built Wasp app wherever and however you want, as long as your provider/server supports Wasp's build format.

After going through the general steps that apply to all deployments, you can follow step-by-step guides for deploying your Wasp app to some of the most popular providers:

Fly.io
Railway
Heroku
Netlify
Cloudflare

No worries, you can still deploy your app if your desired provider isn't on the list - it just means we don't yet have a step-by-step guide for you to follow. Feel free to open a PR if you'd like to write one yourself :)

Deploying a Wasp App

Deploying a Wasp app comes down to the following:

Generating deployable code.
Deploying the API server (backend).
Deploying the web client (frontend).
Deploying a PostgreSQL database and keeping it running.

Let's go through each of these steps.

1. Generating Deployable Code

Running the command wasp build generates deployable code for the whole app in the .wasp/build/ directory.

wasp build

:::caution PostgreSQL in production You won't be able to build the app if you are using SQLite as a database (which is the default database). You'll have to switch to PostgreSQL before deploying to production. :::

2. Deploying the API Server <Server />

There's a Dockerfile that defines an image for building the server in the .wasp/build directory.

To run the server in production, deploy this Docker image to a hosting provider and make sure the required env variables are correctly set up. Usually, you use the provider's dashboard UI or a CLI tool to set up these env variables.

Check the required server env variables and make sure they are set up for your server.

While these are the general instructions on deploying the server anywhere, we also have more detailed instructions for chosen providers below, so check that out for more guidance if you are deploying to one of those providers.

3. Deploying the Web Client <Client />

The command above will build the web client and put it in the build/ directory in the .wasp/build/web-app/.

Since the result of building is just a bunch of static files, you can now deploy your web client to any static hosting provider (e.g. Netlify, Cloudflare, ...) by deploying the contents of .wasp/build/web-app/build/.

4. Deploying the Database <Database />

Any PostgreSQL database will do, as long as you provide the server with the correct DATABASE_URL env var and ensure that the database is accessible from the server.

Different Providers

We'll cover a few different deployment providers below:

Fly.io <Server /> <Database />
Railway <Server /> <Client /> <Database />
Heroku <Server /> <Database />
Netlify <Client />
Cloudflare <Client />

Fly.io <Server /> <Database /> {#flyio}

In this section, we'll show how to deploy your server and provision a database for it on Fly.io.

:::info One command deploy

We recommend that you use Wasp Deploy to deploy your Wasp app to Fly.io. Wasp CLI automates deploying the client, the server and the database with one command.

:::

Prerequisites

To get started, follow these steps:

Create a Fly.io account,
Install the fly CLI,
Log in with the fly CLI.

You can check if you are logged in with fly auth whoami, and if you are not, you can log in with fly auth login.

Set Up a Fly.io App

:::info You need to do this only once per Wasp app. :::

Unless you already have a Fly.io app that you want to deploy to, let's create a new Fly.io app.

After you have built the app, position yourself in .wasp/build/ directory:

shell

cd .wasp/build

Next, run the launch command to set up a new app and create a fly.toml file:

bash

fly launch --remote-only

This will ask you a series of questions, such as asking you to choose a region and whether you'd like a database.

Say yes to Would you like to set up a PostgreSQL database now? and select Development. Fly.io will set a DATABASE_URL for you.
Say no to Would you like to deploy now? (and to any additional questions).

We still need to set up several environment variables.

:::info What if the database setup fails? If your attempts to initiate a new app fail for whatever reason, then you should run fly apps destroy <app-name> before trying again. Fly does not allow you to create multiple apps with the same name.

<details> <summary> What does it look like when your DB is deployed correctly? </summary> <div> <p>When your DB is deployed correctly, you'll see it in the <a href="https://fly.io/dashboard">Fly.io dashboard</a>:</p> </div> </details>

:::

Next, let's copy the fly.toml file up to our Wasp project dir for safekeeping.

shell

cp fly.toml ../../

Next, add a few more environment variables for the server code.

bash

fly secrets set PORT=8080
fly secrets set JWT_SECRET=<random_string_at_least_32_characters_long>
fly secrets set WASP_WEB_CLIENT_URL=<url_of_where_client_will_be_deployed>
fly secrets set WASP_SERVER_URL=<url_of_where_server_will_be_deployed>

We can help you generate a JWT_SECRET: <SecretGeneratorBlock />

:::note If you do not know what your client URL is yet, don't worry. You can set WASP_WEB_CLIENT_URL after you deploy your client. :::

If you want to make sure you've added your secrets correctly, run fly secrets list in the terminal. Note that you will see hashed versions of your secrets to protect your sensitive data.

Deploy to a Fly.io App

While still in the .wasp/build/ directory, run:

bash

fly deploy --remote-only --config ../../fly.toml

This will build and deploy the backend of your Wasp app on Fly.io to https://<app-name>.fly.dev 🤘🎸

Now, if you haven't, you can deploy your client and add the client URL by running fly secrets set WASP_WEB_CLIENT_URL=<url_of_deployed_client>. We suggest using Netlify for your client, but you can use any static hosting provider.

Additionally, some useful fly commands:

bash

fly logs
fly secrets list
fly ssh console

Redeploying After Wasp Builds

When you rebuild your Wasp app (with wasp build), it will remove your .wasp/build/ directory. In there, you may have a fly.toml from any prior Fly.io deployments.

While we will improve this process in the future, in the meantime, you have a few options:

Copy the fly.toml file to a versioned directory, like your Wasp project dir.

From there, you can reference it in fly deploy --config <path> commands, like above.

Backup the fly.toml file somewhere before running wasp build, and copy it into .wasp/build/ after.

When the fly.toml file exists in .wasp/build/ dir, you do not need to specify the --config <path>.

Run fly config save -a <app-name> to regenerate the fly.toml file from the remote state stored in Fly.io.

Railway <Server /> <Client /> <Database /> {#railway}

In this section, we'll show how to deploy the client, the server, and provision a database on Railway.

:::info One command deploy

We recommend that you use Wasp Deploy to deploy your Wasp app to Railway. Wasp CLI automates deploying the client, the server and the database with one command.

:::

Prerequisites

To get started, follow these steps:

Make sure your Wasp app is built by running wasp build in the project dir.
Create a Railway account.
Install the Railway CLI.
Run railway login and a browser tab will open to authenticate you.

Create New Project

Let's create our Railway project:

Go to your Railway dashboard, click on New Project, and select Deploy PostgreSQL from the dropdown menu.
Once the project is created, left-click on the Create button in the top right corner and select Empty Service.
Click on the new service, and change the name to server.
Create another empty service and name it client.
Deploy the changes by pressing the Deploy button on top.

Deploy Your App to Railway

Setup Domains

We'll need the domains for both the server and client services:

Go to the server instance's Settings tab, and click Generate Domain.
Enter 8080 as the port and click Generate Domain.
Do the same under the client's Settings.
Copy both domains, as we will need them later.

Deploying the Server

You'll deploy the server first:

Move into the .wasp/build directory:
shell
```
cd .wasp/build
```
Link the .wasp/build directory to your newly created Railway project:
shell
```
railway link
```
Select server when prompted to select a service.

Go into the Railway dashboard and set up the required env variables:

Click on the server service and go to the Variables tab:
1. Click Variable reference and select DATABASE_URL (it will populate it with the correct value)
2. Add WASP_WEB_CLIENT_URL with the client domain (e.g. https://client-production-XXXX.up.railway.app). https:// prefix is required!
3. Add WASP_SERVER_URL with the server domain (e.g. https://server-production-XXXX.up.railway.app). https:// prefix is required!
4. Add JWT_SECRET with a random string at least 32 characters long
  <SecretGeneratorBlock />
<AddExternalAuthEnvVarsReminder />
Push and deploy the project:
shell
```
railway up --ci
```
<small>
We use the --ci flag to limit the log output to only the build process. </small>

Railway will locate the Dockerfile in .wasp/build and deploy your server.

Deploying the Client

Next, go into your app's frontend build directory .wasp/build/web-app:
shell
```
cd web-app
```
Create the production build, using the server domain as the REACT_APP_API_URL:
shell
```
npm install && REACT_APP_API_URL=<url_to_wasp_backend> npm run build
```
Next, we want to link the client build directory to the client service:
shell
```
cd build
railway link
```

Next, deploy the client build to Railway:
shell
```
railway up --ci
```
Select client when prompted to select a service.

Railway will detect the index.html file and deploy the client as a static site.

And now your Wasp should be deployed!

Back in your Railway dashboard, click on your project and you should see your newly deployed services: PostgreSQL, Server, and Client.

Updates & Redeploying

When you make updates and need to redeploy:

Run wasp build to rebuild your app.
Go into the .wasp/build directory and:

Deploy the server with:
shell
```
railway up --ci
```
Go into the .wasp/build/web-app directory and:

Rebuild the client with:
shell
```
npm install && REACT_APP_API_URL=<url_to_wasp_backend> npm run build
```
And then deploy the client with:
shell
```
cd build
railway up --ci
```

Heroku <Server /> <Database /> {#heroku}

We will show how to deploy the server and provision a database for it on Heroku. You can check their pricing page for more information on their plans.

You will need Heroku account, heroku CLI and docker CLI installed to follow these instructions.

Make sure you are logged in with heroku CLI. You can check if you are logged in with heroku whoami, and if you are not, you can log in with heroku login.

Set up a Heroku app

:::info You need to do this only once per Wasp app. :::

Unless you want to deploy to an existing Heroku app, let's create a new Heroku app:

heroku create <app-name>

Unless you have an external PostgreSQL database that you want to use, let's create a new database on Heroku and attach it to our app:

heroku addons:create --app <app-name> heroku-postgresql:essential-0

:::caution

We are using the essential-0 database instance. It's the cheapest database instance Heroku offers and it costs $5/mo. :::

Heroku will also set DATABASE_URL env var for us at this point. If you are using an external database, you will have to set it up yourself.

The PORT env var will also be provided by Heroku, so the ones left to set are the JWT_SECRET, WASP_WEB_CLIENT_URL and WASP_SERVER_URL env vars:

heroku config:set --app <app-name> JWT_SECRET=<random_string_at_least_32_characters_long>
heroku config:set --app <app-name> WASP_WEB_CLIENT_URL=<url_of_where_client_will_be_deployed>
heroku config:set --app <app-name> WASP_SERVER_URL=<url_of_where_server_will_be_deployed>

We can help you generate a JWT_SECRET: <SecretGeneratorBlock />

:::note If you do not know what your client URL is yet, don't worry. You can set WASP_WEB_CLIENT_URL after you deploy your client. :::

Deploy the Heroku app

After you have built the app, position yourself in .wasp/build/ directory:

shell

cd .wasp/build

assuming you were at the root of your Wasp project at that moment.

shell

heroku container:login

Set your app's stack to container so we can deploy our app as a Docker container:

shell

heroku stack:set container --app <app-name>

Build the Docker image and push it to Heroku:

shell

heroku container:push --app <app-name> web

App is still not deployed at this point. This step might take some time, especially the very first time, since there are no cached Docker layers.

Deploy the pushed image and restart the app:

shell

heroku container:release --app <app-name> web

This is it, the backend is deployed at https://<app-name>-XXXX.herokuapp.com 🎉

Find out the exact app URL with:

shell

heroku info --app <app-name>

Additionally, you can check out the logs with:

shell

heroku logs --tail --app <app-name>

:::note Using pg-boss with Heroku

If you wish to deploy an app leveraging Jobs that use pg-boss as the executor to Heroku, you need to set an additional environment variable called PG_BOSS_NEW_OPTIONS to {"connectionString":"<REGULAR_HEROKU_DATABASE_URL>","ssl":{"rejectUnauthorized":false}}. This is because pg-boss uses the pg extension, which does not seem to connect to Heroku over SSL by default, which Heroku requires. Additionally, Heroku uses a self-signed cert, so we must handle that as well.

Netlify <Client /> {#netlify}

Netlify is a static hosting solution that is free for many use cases. You will need a Netlify account to follow these instructions.

Make sure you are logged in with Netlify CLI. You can check if you are logged in with npx netlify-cli status, and if you are not, you can log in with npx netlify-cli login.

First, make sure you have built the Wasp app. We'll build the client web app next.

We can now deploy the client with:

shell

npx netlify-cli deploy

<small> Carefully follow the instructions: decide if you want to create a new app or use an existing one, pick the team under which your app will be deployed etc. </small>

The final step is to run:

shell

npx netlify-cli deploy --prod

That is it! Your client should be live at https://<app-name>.netlify.app.

:::note Make sure you set the https://<app-name>.netlify.app URL as the WASP_WEB_CLIENT_URL environment variable in your server hosting environment. :::

:::caution Redirecting URLs toward index.html If you follow the instructions above, the Netlify CLI will use netlify.toml file that Wasp generates by default in .wasp/build/web-app/. This will correctly configure Netlify to redirect URLs toward index.html, which is important since Wasp is a Single Page Application (SPA) and needs to handle routing on the client side.

If you instead use another method of deployment to Netlify, for example doing it using CI, make sure that Netlify picks up that netlify.toml file, or configure URL redirecting yourself manually on Netlify.

We recommend to deploy using the Netlify CLI in Github Actions. You can find an example Github Action configuration below. :::

Deploying through Github Actions

To enable automatic deployment of the client whenever you push to the main branch, you can set up a GitHub Actions workflow. To do this, create a file in your repository at .github/workflows/deploy.yaml. Feel free to rename deploy.yaml as long as the file type is not changed.

Here’s an example configuration file to help you get started. This example workflow will trigger a deployment to Netlify whenever changes are pushed to the main branch.

<details> <summary>Example Github Action</summary>

yaml

name: Deploy Client to Netlify

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main # Deploy on every push to the main branch

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout Code
        uses: actions/checkout@v5

      - name: Setup Node.js
        id: setup-node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v5
        with:
          node-version: '22'

      - name: Install Wasp
        run: curl -sSL https://get.wasp.sh/installer.sh | sh -s -- -v 0.16.0 # Change to your Wasp version

      - name: Wasp Build
        run: wasp build

      - name: Install dependencies and build the client
        run: |
          cd ./.wasp/build/web-app
          npm install
          REACT_APP_API_URL=${{ secrets.WASP_SERVER_URL }} npm run build

      - name: Deploy to Netlify
        run: |
          cd ./.wasp/build/web-app
          npx [email protected] deploy --prod --dir=build --auth=$NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN --site=$NETLIFY_SITE_NAME

    env:
      NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN }}
      NETLIFY_SITE_NAME: netlify-site-name

</details> <details> <summary>How do I get the Environment Variables?</summary>

NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN: For the auth token, you'll generate a new Personal Access Token on Netlify.
NETLIFY_SITE_NAME: This is the name of your Netlify project.
WASP_SERVER_URL: This is your server's URL and is generally only available after deploying the backend. This variable can be skipped when the backend is not functional or not deployed, but be aware that backend-dependent functionalities may be broken.

After getting the environment variables, you need to set these in GitHub Repository Secrets.

</details>

Cloudflare <Client /> {#cloudflare}

Cloudflare is a cloud services provider that offers a variety of services, including free static hosting with Cloudflare Pages. You will need a Cloudflare account to follow these instructions.

Make sure you are logged in with the Cloudflare's CLI called Wrangler. You can log in by running:

bash

npx wrangler login

Before you continue, make sure you have built the Wasp app. We'll build the client web app next.

To deploy the client, make sure you are positioned in the .wasp/buld/web-app folder and then run the following:

shell

npx wrangler pages deploy ./build --commit-dirty=true --branch=main

<small> Carefully follow the instructions i.e. do you want to create a new app or use an existing one. </small>

That is it! Your client should be live at https://<app-name>.pages.dev.

:::note Make sure you set the https://<app-name>.pages.dev URL as the WASP_WEB_CLIENT_URL environment variable in your server hosting environment. :::

:::info Redirecting URLs toward index.html

Cloudflare will automatically redirect all paths toward index.html, which is important since Wasp's client app is a Single Page Application (SPA) and needs to handle routing on the client side. :::

Deploying through Github Actions

Here’s an example configuration file to help you get started. This example workflow will trigger a deployment to Cloudflare Pages whenever changes are pushed to the main branch.

<details> <summary>Example Github Action</summary>

yaml

name: Deploy Client to Cloudflare

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main # Deploy on every push to the main branch

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout Code
        uses: actions/checkout@v5

      - name: Setup Node.js
        id: setup-node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v5
        with:
          node-version: '22'

      - name: Install Wasp
        run: curl -sSL https://get.wasp.sh/installer.sh | sh -s -- -v 0.16.0 # Change to your Wasp version

      - name: Wasp Build
        run: cd ./app && wasp build

      - name: Install dependencies and build the client
        run: |
          cd ./app/.wasp/build/web-app
          npm install
          REACT_APP_API_URL=${{ secrets.WASP_SERVER_URL }} npm run build

      - name: Deploy to Cloudflare Pages
        uses: cloudflare/wrangler-action@v3
        with:
          apiToken: ${{ secrets.CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN }}
          accountId: ${{ secrets.CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID }}
          command: pages deploy ./app/.wasp/build/web-app/build --project-name=${{ env.CLIENT_CLOUDFLARE_APP_NAME }} --commit-dirty=true --branch=main

    env:
      CLIENT_CLOUDFLARE_APP_NAME: cloudflare-pages-app-name

</details> <details> <summary>How do I get the Environment Variables?</summary>

CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN and CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID: You can get these from your Cloudflare dashboard. Make sure to give the token Cloudflare Pages: Read and Cloudflare Pages: Edit permissions.
CLIENT_CLOUDFLARE_APP_NAME: This is the name of your Cloudflare Pages app. You can create a new Cloudflare Pages app with npx wrangler pages project create <app-name>.
WASP_SERVER_URL: This is your server's URL and is generally only available after deploying the backend. This variable can be skipped when the backend is not functional or not deployed, but be aware that backend-dependent functionalities may be broken.

After getting the environment variables, you need to set these in GitHub Repository Secrets.

</details>