Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to the questions people ask most. If yours isn't here, try the AI assistant or browse the relevant section.

Does this cost money?

Yes — deploying creates real resources in your own cloud account, and your cloud provider bills you directly for what's running. The Deployer doesn't charge you for those resources; it shows an in-app cost estimate so you can plan ahead. The estimate isn't a spending cap. To stop the charges, delete the project and the resources it created are torn down. See costs & billing.

Will it touch my real cloud account?

Yes — but only a cloud account you connect, and everything runs in your own account, not on ours. Your app and data live in your account, using capacity you rented in your own name. See what permissions we need & how we keep them safe.

Which clouds and languages are supported?

The Deployer supports AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, and DigitalOcean, plus a range of popular programming languages and frameworks. The exact, up-to-date lists live in Limits & what's supported and supported languages & frameworks.

Do I need to know how to code?

For self-serve deployment, you should be comfortable with your own application and repository, even if you do not know cloud infrastructure. If you need hands-on help, Launch and Move are the better fit. You need existing app code in a GitHub, GitLab.com or Bitbucket Cloud repository to deploy.

Are my data and keys safe?

Every credential you connect is encrypted before it's stored, and cloud credentials are used by the deployment engine rather than placed in AI prompts. Connections currently use long-lived keys that need broad access, so we recommend a dedicated cloud account or project for The Deployer and a key used by nothing else. The page linked below explains the full model, including what the project copilot can see on your server and what's planned. See what permissions we need & how we keep them safe.

Can I use my own domain?

Yes, on the Pro and Team plans. You can point a custom domain at your live app, and The Deployer helps you set the nameservers or DNS records and then verifies it automatically. See connecting a custom domain.

What happens if a deployment fails?

A Recovery Agent diagnoses supported failures and retries a limited number of times. Some failures need a change in your code or cloud account; the logs say what went wrong. You can watch it work in the deployment logs, and retry if needed. See common problems & fixes and launching & reading the logs.

Can I connect a database (or cache, queue, storage, email)?

Yes. Create it once in the Services area, then attach it to any project. An Attachment Doctor agent reads your code first to make sure it's the right fit, then wires it in and redeploys. Start at what standalone services are.

How do I change my environment variables?

From inside your project, in the environment settings, where you can view and edit them and apply the change with a targeted redeploy. Attaching a service also adds the right variables for you automatically. See environment variables.

How do automatic deploys work?

On the Pro and Team plans, The Deployer redeploys your app whenever you push new code to your connected repository. Every plan has the manual Pull & Restart button too. See Pull & Restart and auto-deploy.

What happens to my app if I stop paying?

Nothing that is running gets switched off. Your app lives in your own cloud account, so it keeps serving, domain and all. Your account moves to the Free plan, which only changes what you can do next: new commits wait for Pull & Restart, you can't connect another domain, and automated recovery is limited to one recovery session per deploy. See costs and billing.

What can't the app do yet?

There are some current limitations — the honest, up-to-date list is in what the app can't (yet) do.