Apps
An app in Hostim.dev is a containerized service that runs inside a project. It can be anything: a web server, an API, a worker, or a background task.
Apps are the core unit of deployment on the platform.
What apps can do
Each app runs in its own container with isolated resources. You can:
- Deploy apps from a Docker image, a Git repository, or a local directory
- Set the number of replicas and a plan (with CPU and memory)
- View logs and resource metrics
- Connect apps to databases and volumes
- Use custom domains and SSL
Apps inside the same project can communicate over an internal private network.
How to create an app
You can create an app in three ways:
The first two work from the dashboard and from the CLI. A local directory deploys from the CLI or MCP. The CLI needs no browser, which is what you want in CI or when an AI coding agent deploys for you:
hostim deploy web --docker-image nginx:alpine --plan sa-1-1 --port 80
hostim deploy web --git https://github.com/me/app --branch main --plan sa-1-1 --port 3000
hostim deploy web --source . --plan sa-1-1 --port 8080
Once deployed, apps can be scaled, monitored, and managed from the dashboard, or
with hostim status, hostim logs, hostim env and hostim exec.
App management
After deployment, you can:
- Configure environment variables
- Scale horizontally (replicas) and vertically (plan - CPU and memory)
- View real-time logs and metrics
- Connect to other services within the project
See Observability, GitHub Actions, and Advanced Settings for more details.