Quickstart

This guide takes you from a new account to a live app with a resource and a custom domain. It takes about ten minutes, most of it waiting for the first build.

You need a repository on GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket, public or private, and a payment card.

1. Create your account#

Go to edge.dply.io/register. Sign-up is open; you don't need an invitation. Register with Name, Email and Password, or choose one of the providers under Or continue with to sign up with that account.

If you registered with email, open the verification link dply sends you. dply creates an organization for you when you sign up.

2. Choose a plan#

dply has no trial. Starter costs $0 a month: you pay only for usage, and a spending cap stops it at $25 a billing period unless you raise it. Checkout asks for a card.

After you verify your email, open your organization's Billing page. dply takes you there after sign-up when it can. Under Plan, choose Choose Starter (or Choose Pro or Choose Team) and complete Stripe Checkout. Pro and Team bill from that day.

A static site can also run on the free tier with no plan and no card. See Plans & pricing and Starter and spending caps.

3. Connect your source control#

From the dashboard, choose New app. The Create an app page walks you through three steps.

In Step 1 of 3 · Connect your source control, choose Connect GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket and authorize dply. When the account shows as Connected, choose Next.

You can also type a repository under Or paste a repository, as owner/repo or a full URL, and choose Next.

4. Choose a repository#

In Step 2 of 3 · Select a repository, pick the repository from the list and choose Next. If the repository you want isn't listed, choose Reload, or paste its URL under Repository URL.

5. Deploy#

In Step 3 of 3 · Create your application:

1. Enter an App name. dply fills one in from the repository name.
2. Pick the branch or tag to deploy.
3. Wait for Detecting how to build this… to finish. dply then shows the framework and what it will deploy, for example astro · Site or laravel · App.
4. If the repository is a monorepo, choose the package under Which package should we deploy?
5. Under What are you deploying?, keep the choice marked Recommended or pick the other one:
   • Site: static files built from your repository, served from the edge.
   • App: dply runs your code. Server-rendered frameworks such as Next.js render on the edge; PHP, Ruby and Node.js servers run in a container.
6. Choose Deploy.

To change the Build command or Output directory dply detected, open Advanced before you deploy. You can also change both later, in Build. See Frameworks & runtimes.

6. Open your app#

After you choose Deploy, dply opens the app's Overview page and shows the build as it runs. To read the full build output, open Build & deploy logs.

When the build finishes, the live URL appears at the top of Overview. Every app gets a hostname on on-dply.live, in the form <app-name>-<random>.on-dply.live. Choose Open to visit it.

For a repository on a connected GitHub account, each push to the branch you picked now deploys automatically. The Deploy on push setting in Build controls this, and is on by default. For other repositories, deploy from the dashboard or the CLI.

7. Add a resource#

Resources are managed services your app uses, such as a key-value store, a database or a queue.

1. On your app's Overview page, choose Add resource.
2. Pick a type, for example Key-value store.
3. Choose Create new to make a new one, or Attach existing to reuse one your organization already has.
4. Enter a Name and choose Create.
5. Redeploy the app. dply connects resources and sets their environment variables on the next deploy.

See Resources overview for every resource type and how your code reaches it.

8. Add a custom domain#

1. In your app, open Routing, then the Domains tab, and choose Use your own domain.
2. Enter the hostname, for example www.example.com, and pick how to connect it:
   • Let dply run DNS: change the domain's nameservers to the two dply shows. Everything under the domain then works with no records to copy.
   • Point it at dply myself: create the CNAME (and TXT record, when shown) at your DNS provider, then choose Check DNS now.
3. dply issues a TLS certificate once DNS checks out. The row reads "is live over HTTPS" when it's ready.

See Domains and Domain verification for apex domains and troubleshooting.

Next steps#

• Deployments: redeploy, roll back and read build logs.
• Environment variables: add configuration and secrets.
• Preview deployments: get a URL for every pull request.
• Local development: work with your app from your machine and the CLI.