The Deployer documentation
Connecting your accounts

Connect DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean is a cloud provider known for being simple and developer-friendly — often the quickest of the four to set up. To let The Deployer work inside your account, you'll create one API token (a single app-only key, like a password just for software) and pick a region. That's it — two values.

Current credential model. The Deployer connects to DigitalOcean with a long-lived personal access token that needs full (read and write) access. Use a dedicated DigitalOcean team for The Deployer's resources if you run other production systems on DigitalOcean, create a token used by nothing else, and set an expiry. See Permissions & security.

No DigitalOcean account yet?

In Connections, click Add provider and choose I don't have one yet. The Deployer walks you through four steps, and remembers where you got to if you switch tabs:

  1. Create a DigitalOcean account. DigitalOcean often gives new accounts free credit to start. The amount and terms are DigitalOcean's, and they change.
  2. Add a payment method. DigitalOcean asks for a card or PayPal before it lets a new account create servers. Any credit you have is used before you're charged.
  3. Create an API token, the same way as in Step 1 below.
  4. Paste the token and choose where your app runs. The Deployer suggests a region from your time zone.

A small app runs on one of DigitalOcean's smallest servers, a few dollars a month, which DigitalOcean bills you for directly.

What you'll collect

  • A Personal Access Token — a long string DigitalOcean generates for you (shown only once).
  • A Region — where your servers physically run (for example nyc1 or blr1).

An "API token" is simply a key that lets an app act on your account through DigitalOcean's programming interface — without you sharing your DigitalOcean password.

Step 1 — Create the token

Do this signed in to DigitalOcean in a separate tab:

  1. Go to cloud.digitalocean.com and sign in.
  2. In the left sidebar, click API.
  3. On the Tokens tab, click Generate New Token.
  4. Give it a name you'll recognize, such as deployer, and choose an Expiration (90 days is a sensible choice; replace it before it lapses).
  5. Set the scope to Full Access (read and write). The Deployer needs write access to create and manage your servers — a read-only token will fail at deploy time.
  6. Click Generate Token.
  7. DigitalOcean now shows the token once. Click to copy it and keep this tab open until you've pasted it — you can't view it again afterward.

Step 2 — Pick a region

A region is the physical location of the data center your app runs in. Choose one close to most of your users so the app feels faster. You enter it as a short code, for example:

  • nyc1, nyc3 — New York, USA
  • sfo3 — San Francisco, USA
  • lon1 — London, UK
  • fra1 — Frankfurt, Germany
  • blr1 — Bangalore, India
  • sgp1 — Singapore

If you're unsure, pick the location nearest you.

Step 3 — Paste it into The Deployer

  1. In The Deployer, open Connections from the left sidebar.
  2. Under Cloud providers, click Add provider and choose DigitalOcean.
  3. In Label, type a name for yourself, e.g. My DigitalOcean.
  4. Fill in the fields:
    • Personal Access Token — paste the token you copied in Step 1.
    • Default Region (e.g. nyc1, blr1) — type your chosen region code.
  5. Click Connect & verify.

The Deployer signs in with the token to confirm it works. A verified badge means you're ready. An error usually means the token was only partially copied, or it was created with read-only access instead of Full Access — generate a fresh Full Access token and try again.

Safety notes

  • The token is as powerful as your password for whatever it can access — don't share it or store it in plain text.
  • The Deployer encrypts the token before storing it. It's used by the deployment engine and isn't placed in AI prompts.
  • If a token is ever exposed, go to API in DigitalOcean, delete the old token (that instantly disables it), generate a new one, and use Replace credentials in The Deployer to swap it in — see Viewing & replacing your credentials.

The Resources links and video below walk through creating a DigitalOcean API token. Once DigitalOcean shows verified, you can create a project.