Deploy Node.js

This guide deploys a Node.js application (Express or any HTTP server), connects it to a managed PostgreSQL database, and runs migrations. For the shared deploy flow, see Deploy from GitHub.

Prepare Your App

Listen on 0.0.0.0

Your app must bind 0.0.0.0 and the port you expose. Binding to localhost builds and starts fine but is unreachable.

const port = process.env.PORT || 8080;
app.listen(port, '0.0.0.0', () => {
  console.log(`listening on 0.0.0.0:${port}`);
});

Reading PORT keeps the listen port and the exposed port in sync. You can also set PORT yourself in environment variables.

Build and Start

The start command runs as a direct exec, so node dist/app.js works as written. Wrap it in sh -c "…" only when you need shell features. Pin your Node version with a package.json engines field (for Buildpacks) or the base image tag (for a Dockerfile).

Deploy

Create an application from your repository. Out Plane uses your Dockerfile if present, otherwise Buildpacks installs dependencies and runs your start script. Expose the port your app listens on. A minimal Dockerfile:

FROM node:22-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --omit=dev
COPY . .
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

Connect a Database

Create a managed PostgreSQL database, then copy its connection string into a DATABASE_URL environment variable. Connections require SSL.

const { Pool } = require('pg');
const pool = new Pool({
  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
  ssl: { rejectUnauthorized: false },
});

Prisma, Knex, Sequelize, and Drizzle all read DATABASE_URL automatically. If your connection string does not already include it, append ?sslmode=require.

Run Migrations

Out Plane does not have a pre deploy hook, so run migrations one of two ways:

• Once, from the browser terminal: open a shell on a running instance and run, for example, npx prisma migrate deploy.
• On every boot, from the start command: sh -c "npx prisma migrate deploy && node server.js".

Environment Variables

• Set NODE_ENV=production. It is not set by default, and it enables production behavior and caching.
• Store DATABASE_URL and your secrets as variables, or share them across apps with an Environment Variable Group.

Production Notes

• Bind 0.0.0.0, never localhost.
• Use npm ci --omit=dev and a plain node process. Do not ship nodemon or ts-node in production.
• Persist uploads to a volume or object storage. The container filesystem is reset on every redeploy.

Next Steps