# Deploy Express

> Deploy an Express app on Ownkube in minutes. Push your repo and Ownkube builds and ships it, with a live URL and automatic TLS. Managed Postgres and env vars included.

Deploy an [Express](https://expressjs.com/) API on Ownkube in minutes. Push your repo and Ownkube builds it and ships it, and you get a live URL with automatic TLS. Managed Postgres, logs, metrics, and one-click rollbacks come built in. No cloud account to start.

## What you'll need

- An Express app in a GitHub or GitLab repository
- About five minutes

No card required to sign in and look around. Deploying needs a plan: **Personal** is \$5 / month on a prepaid wallet. See [Pricing](/docs/configuration/pricing).

## Deploy it

1. **Connect your repo**

   Sign in at [app.ownkube.io/login](https://app.ownkube.io/login), open [**Settings**](https://app.ownkube.io/dashboard/settings), and connect the GitHub App (or GitLab) so Ownkube can reach your repository. Already have a prebuilt image in a registry? Point Ownkube at it instead. See [Registries](/docs/features/registries).

2. **Create a Web deployment**

   From your [dashboard](https://app.ownkube.io/dashboard), choose **Create deployment**, pick **Web**, and select your Express repo. Ownkube builds it and pushes the image to a registry it manages for you.

3. **Set the port**

   Pass `0.0.0.0` as the host to `app.listen`, not `localhost`, so the app is reachable, and read the port from `process.env.PORT`. **3000** is a common default; set that as the port so traffic routes to your app. You can change it later in Settings.

4. **Add environment variables**

   Add any `KEY=value` pairs your app reads, and mark secrets with the **Secret** toggle. See [Environment variables](/docs/guides/environment-variables).

5. **Deploy**

   Click **Create deployment**. The deployment page streams the build, then startup and health checks. When the status goes **healthy**, open the generated hostname on the Overview tab. Your Express app is live, with TLS included.

## Notes for Express

### app.listen(0.0.0.0)

Pass `0.0.0.0` as the host to `app.listen`, not `localhost`, so the app is reachable from outside the container.

### Read process.env.PORT

Read the port from `process.env.PORT` (falling back to a default for local dev) so it matches the port you set in Ownkube.

### A health route

A lightweight `/health` route that returns 200 makes the readiness check fast and reliable.

### Bring your own Dockerfile

Want full control of the build? Add a `Dockerfile` to your repo and Ownkube uses it, reading the port from its `EXPOSE` line.

## Add a database

Need Postgres? Add a **Database** in one click and Ownkube injects the connection string as `DATABASE_URL` (plus `PGHOST`, `PGUSER`, and friends) into your app. See [Databases](/docs/features/databases).

## Scale and observe

Once you're running, turn on [autoscaling](/docs/features/autoscaling) on CPU and memory, watch [logs and metrics](/docs/features/monitoring) on every deployment, and roll back a bad deploy in one click.

- [Quickstart](/docs/quickstart)
- [Databases](/docs/features/databases)

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