How to auto-deploy from Replit

Open your .replit file (show hidden files from the file tree menu). Add a [deployment] section with build and run commands. The build command runs once before the app starts (e.g., compiling TypeScript, bundling assets). The run command starts your server in production. These are separate from the workspace run command, which is used only during development. Set deploymentTarget to cloudrun, which is Replit's Google Cloud-backed infrastructure.

1entrypoint = "src/index.ts"
2run = ["npx", "tsx", "src/index.ts"]
3
4[nix]
5channel = "stable-24_05"
6
7[[ports]]
8localPort = 3000
9externalPort = 80
10
11[deployment]
12build = ["npm", "run", "build"]
13run = ["node", "dist/index.js"]
14deploymentTarget = "cloudrun"

This is the single most important deployment step that beginners miss. Workspace secrets are NOT automatically available in deployed apps. Open the Deployments pane from the left sidebar, find the Secrets section, and add every environment variable your app needs in production. This includes database connection strings, API keys, and any other sensitive values. If you skip this step, your app will start with undefined values and crash immediately. The error is usually process.env.VAR_NAME returns undefined.

Open the Deployments pane and select your deployment type. Autoscale is the most common choice for web apps. It scales from zero to multiple instances based on traffic and costs about $1/month base plus compute usage. Reserved VM is for apps that need to run continuously, like WebSocket servers or background workers, starting around $10-20/month. Static is free and works for HTML/CSS/JS sites without a backend. Scheduled runs commands on a timer for periodic tasks like backups.

Click the Publish button in the Deployments pane. Replit runs your build command, starts your app with the deployment run command, and performs a health check by sending a request to your homepage. The health check must receive a response within 5 seconds or deployment fails. If everything succeeds, your app is live at your-app-name.replit.app. You can see deployment logs in the Deployments pane to debug any issues.

To automate deployments when you push code, connect your Repl to GitHub. Open the Git tool from the left sidebar. Click Connect to GitHub and authorize Replit to access your repositories. Choose an existing repo or create a new one. Replit syncs your code to the main branch. Now when you push code from your local machine or another editor, the changes appear in your Repl. You still need to click Publish manually, but your code is always in sync.

For true continuous deployment, create an endpoint in your app that triggers a redeployment when called. Add a webhook endpoint that responds to GitHub push events. When you push code to GitHub, a webhook fires, your Repl pulls the latest code, and the deployment updates. Alternatively, use a scheduled deployment to periodically check for updates and redeploy. For production applications with complex CI/CD requirements, teams can work with RapidDev to design robust deployment pipelines that include testing and staging environments.

1// Webhook endpoint for automated redeployment
2import express from 'express';
3import { execSync } from 'child_process';
4import crypto from 'crypto';
5
6const app = express();
7const WEBHOOK_SECRET = process.env.GITHUB_WEBHOOK_SECRET;
8
9app.post('/webhook/deploy', express.json(), (req, res) => {
10  // Verify GitHub signature
11  const signature = req.headers['x-hub-signature-256'];
12  const hmac = crypto.createHmac('sha256', WEBHOOK_SECRET);
13  const digest = 'sha256=' + hmac.update(JSON.stringify(req.body)).digest('hex');
14
15  if (signature !== digest) {
16    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid signature' });
17  }
18
19  // Pull latest code
20  try {
21    execSync('git pull origin main', { cwd: process.cwd() });
22    execSync('npm install', { cwd: process.cwd() });
23    console.log('Code updated successfully');
24    res.json({ success: true, message: 'Deployment triggered' });
25  } catch (error) {
26    console.error('Deploy failed:', error.message);
27    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Deployment failed' });
28  }
29});
30
31app.listen(3000, '0.0.0.0');