Version: Next

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

This document explains how to build and prepare your Wasp app for deployment. You can then 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 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

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

To build the web app, position yourself in .wasp/build/web-app directory:

cd .wasp/build/web-app

Run

npm install && REACT_APP_API_URL=<url_to_wasp_backend> npm run build

where <url_to_wasp_backend> is the URL of the Wasp server that you previously deployed.

Client Env Variables

Remember, if you have defined any other client-side env variables in your project, make sure to add them to the command above when building your 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

We will show how to deploy the server and provision a database for it on Fly.io.

We automated this process for you

If you want to do all of the work below with one command, you can use the Wasp CLI.

Wasp CLI deploys the server, deploys the client, and sets up a database. It also gives you a way to redeploy (update) your app with a single command.

Fly.io offers a variety of free services that are perfect for deploying your first Wasp app! You will need a Fly.io account and the flyctl CLI.

note

Fly.io offers support for both locally built Docker containers and remotely built ones. However, for simplicity and reproducibility, we will default to the use of a remote Fly.io builder.

Additionally, fly is a symlink for flyctl on most systems and they can be used interchangeably.

Make sure you are logged in with flyctl CLI. You can check if you are logged in with flyctl auth whoami, and if you are not, you can log in with flyctl 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:

cd .wasp/build

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

flyctl 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.

What if the database setup fails?

If your attempts to initiate a new app fail for whatever reason, then you should run flyctl apps destroy <app-name> before trying again. Fly does not allow you to create multiple apps with the same name.

What does it look like when your DB is deployed correctly?

When your DB is deployed correctly, you'll see it in the Fly.io dashboard:

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

cp fly.toml ../../

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

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

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.

Using an external auth method?

If your app is using an external authentication method(s) supported by Wasp (such as Google or GitHub), make sure to additionally set the necessary environment variables specifically required by these method(s).

If you want to make sure you've added your secrets correctly, run flyctl 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:

flyctl 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 flyctl 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 flyctl commands:

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

Railway server client database

We will show how to deploy the client, the server, and provision a database on Railway.

Railway is a simple and great way to host your server and database. It's also possible to deploy your entire app: database, server, and client. You can use the platform for free for a limited time, or if you meet certain eligibility requirements. See their plans page for more info.

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

Free Tier

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 Provision PostgreSQL from the dropdown menu.
Once it initializes, right-click on the New button in the top right corner and select Empty Service.
Once it initializes, click on it, go to Settings > General and change the name to server
Go ahead and create another empty service and name it client

Changing the name

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.
Do the same under the client's Settings.

Copy the domains as we will need them later.

Deploying the Server

Let's deploy our server first:

Move into your app's .wasp/build/ directory:

cd .wasp/build

Link your app build to your newly created Railway project:

railway link

Go into the Railway dashboard and set up the required env variables:
Open the Settings and go to the Variables tab:
- click Variable reference and select DATABASE_URL (it will populate it with the correct value)
- add WASP_WEB_CLIENT_URL - enter the client domain (e.g. https://client-production-XXXX.up.railway.app). https:// prefix is required!
- add WASP_SERVER_URL - enter the server domain (e.g. https://server-production-XXXX.up.railway.app). https:// prefix is required!
- add JWT_SECRET - enter a random string at least 32 characters long (use an online generator)
  Using an external auth method?
  If your app is using an external authentication method(s) supported by Wasp (such as Google or GitHub), make sure to additionally set the necessary environment variables specifically required by these method(s).
Push and deploy the project:

railway up

Select server when prompted with Select Service.

Railway will now locate the Dockerfile and deploy your server 👍

Deploying the Client

Next, change into your app's frontend build directory .wasp/build/web-app:

cd web-app

Create the production build, using the server domain as the REACT_APP_API_URL:

npm install && REACT_APP_API_URL=<url_to_wasp_backend> npm run build

Next, we want to link this specific frontend directory to our project as well:

railway link

We need to configure Railway's static hosting for our client.

Setting Up Static Hosting

Copy the build folder within the web-app directory to dist:

cp -r build dist

We'll need to create the following files:

Dockerfile with:

Dockerfile
FROM pierrezemb/gostatic
CMD [ "-fallback", "index.html" ]
COPY ./dist/ /srv/http/

.dockerignore with:
.dockerignore
```
node_modules/
```

You'll need to repeat these steps each time you run wasp build as it will remove the .wasp/build/web-app directory.

Here's a useful shell script to do the process

If you want to automate the process, save the following as deploy_client.sh in the root of your project:

deploy_client.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash

if [ -z "$REACT_APP_API_URL" ]
then
  echo "REACT_APP_API_URL is not set"
  exit 1
fi

wasp build
cd .wasp/build/web-app

npm install && REACT_APP_API_URL=$REACT_APP_API_URL npm run build

cp -r build dist

dockerfile_contents=$(cat <<EOF
FROM pierrezemb/gostatic
CMD [ "-fallback", "index.html" ]
COPY ./dist/ /srv/http/
EOF
)

dockerignore_contents=$(cat <<EOF
node_modules/
EOF
)

echo "$dockerfile_contents" > Dockerfile
echo "$dockerignore_contents" > .dockerignore

railway up

Make it executable with:

chmod +x deploy_client.sh

You can run it with:

REACT_APP_API_URL=<url_to_wasp_backend> ./deploy_client.sh

Set the PORT environment variable to 8043 under the Variables tab.
Once set, deploy the client and select client when prompted with Select Service:

railway up

Conclusion

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
run railway up in the .wasp/build directory (server)
repeat all the steps in the .wasp/build/web-app directory (client)

Heroku server database

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>

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:

cd .wasp/build

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

heroku container:login

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

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

Build the Docker image and push it to Heroku:

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:

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:

heroku info --app <app-name>

Additionally, you can check out the logs with:

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

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 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.

To build the web app, position yourself in .wasp/build/web-app directory:

cd .wasp/build/web-app

Run

npm install && REACT_APP_API_URL=<url_to_wasp_backend> npm run build

where <url_to_wasp_backend> is the URL of the Wasp server that you previously deployed.

Client Env Variables

Remember, if you have defined any other client-side env variables in your project, make sure to add them to the command above when building your client

We can now deploy the client with:

npx netlify-cli deploy

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.

The final step is to run:

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.

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.

Example Github Action

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@v2

      - name: Setup Node.js
        id: setup-node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - name: Install Wasp
        run: curl -sSL https://get.wasp-lang.dev/installer.sh | sh -s -- -v 0.15.0 # 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 netlify-cli@17.36.1 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

How do I get the Environment Variables?

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.

Cloudflare client

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:

npx wrangler login

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

To build the web app, position yourself in .wasp/build/web-app directory:

cd .wasp/build/web-app

Run

npm install && REACT_APP_API_URL=<url_to_wasp_backend> npm run build

where <url_to_wasp_backend> is the URL of the Wasp server that you previously deployed.

Client Env Variables

Remember, if you have defined any other client-side env variables in your project, make sure to add them to the command above when building your client

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

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

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

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.

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.

Example Github Action

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@v2

      - name: Setup Node.js
        id: setup-node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - name: Install Wasp
        run: curl -sSL https://get.wasp-lang.dev/installer.sh | sh -s -- -v 0.15.0 # 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

How do I get the Environment Variables?

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.

Deploying a Wasp App​

1. Generating Deployable Code​

2. Deploying the API Server server​

3. Deploying the Web Client client​

4. Deploying the Database database​

Different Providers​

Fly.io server database​

Set Up a Fly.io App​

Deploy to a Fly.io App​

Redeploying After Wasp Builds​

Railway server client database​

Prerequisites​

Create New Project​

Deploy Your App to Railway​

Setup Domains​

Deploying the Server​

Deploying the Client​

Conclusion​

Updates & Redeploying​

Heroku server database​

Set up a Heroku app​

Deploy the Heroku app​

Netlify client​

Deploying through Github Actions​

Cloudflare client​

Deploying through Github Actions​

Deploying a Wasp App

1. Generating Deployable Code

2. Deploying the API Server server

3. Deploying the Web Client client

4. Deploying the Database database

Different Providers

Fly.io server database

Set Up a Fly.io App

Deploy to a Fly.io App

Redeploying After Wasp Builds

Railway server client database

Prerequisites

Create New Project

Deploy Your App to Railway

Setup Domains

Deploying the Server

Deploying the Client

Conclusion

Updates & Redeploying

Heroku server database

Set up a Heroku app

Deploy the Heroku app

Netlify client

Deploying through Github Actions

Cloudflare client

Deploying through Github Actions