freepod

Take a local project directory to a running deployment on freepod.eu.

pip install freepod

cd myapp
freepod login      # sign in through the browser
freepod init       # choose a hostname for this project
freepod deploy     # https://myapp.freepod.eu

deploy packs the working tree, uploads it, builds a container image on the platform and releases it. By the time the command returns, the app is live on its own hostname over HTTPS. Ship a new version by running it again.

There is no Dockerfile to write and nothing to configure: Railpack detects the stack — Node, Python, Go, Java, PHP, Ruby, Rust and more — and builds an image from your source as it is.

What you need

• A Freepod account. freepod login opens the sign-in page, which is also where you can register.
• Python 3.9 or newer, for the CLI itself. The project you deploy can be in any language Railpack supports.
• An app that listens on $PORT. The platform assigns the port and passes it in the environment, so bind 0.0.0.0:$PORT (process.env.PORT, os.environ["PORT"], …) rather than a fixed number. An app that picks its own port receives no traffic.

Deployments have no persistent disk. Whatever the app writes to its own filesystem is gone when it restarts, and at every release.

Commands

freepod --help and freepod <command> --help cover the flags.

Hostnames

init asks for one. A bare name becomes a subdomain of the platform: myapp is served at myapp.freepod.eu. To use a domain of your own, point a CNAME at freepod.eu first, then give init the full name. Certificates are issued and renewed for you either way.

.freepod.json

init writes it, and it is meant to be committed. It records the hostname you chose and which deployment this directory belongs to, so the next deploy — yours, a coworker's, or CI's — updates that same app instead of creating a second one. To change a value, edit the file; the next deploy applies it.

What gets uploaded

The working tree, minus .git/, anything your .gitignore excludes, and the usual build output (node_modules/, .venv/, __pycache__/, dist/, …). A .freepodignore file — same syntax as .gitignore, and applied last — keeps out anything else the build does not need.

Re-including a file follows git's rules, with one wrinkle worth knowing: the negation has to name the path (!node_modules/patched.js; a bare !patched.js does nothing), and nothing beneath a directory you excluded yourself can come back. Exclude build/* rather than build/ if you need an exception.

Output

The address is the only thing deploy writes to stdout. The build log, the progress bar and every status line go to stderr:

URL=$(freepod deploy)

Deployments are listed and managed at freepod.eu. Source and issues: github.com/erikvanzijst/freepod.