Install JustDeploy on your server.

JustDeploy itself is a zero-dependency Node program. The heavy lifting is done by Caddy (TLS + reverse proxy), Docker, and Railpack (container builds for Next.js and any framework). Here's the whole box:

Do this first so Caddy can fetch a TLS certificate the moment an app exists. For each hostname you'll deploy, add an A record to your VPS's public IP — a wildcard *.example.com lets every app get its own subdomain automatically:

One command on a fresh Ubuntu box. It installs Node (the one thing JustDeploy needs to run itself), clones the repo, links the justdeploy CLI, then hands off to justdeploy setup — which installs and wires up everything else. Re-running is safe; each step checks first.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/codellyson/justdeploy/master/install.sh | bash

Manual alternative. JustDeploy uses Node's built-in SQLite, so it needs Node ≥ 22.5. Install that, clone, and link — then Step 3 (setup) does Caddy, Docker and Railpack.

# Node 22 (NodeSource)
apt-get update && apt-get install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg git
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | bash -
apt-get install -y nodejs

# JustDeploy — pure Node stdlib, no npm deps for the engine
git clone https://github.com/codellyson/justdeploy /opt/justdeploy
cd /opt/justdeploy && npm link

State is created on first use at /var/lib/justdeploy/state.db; apps live under /srv/<name>/. Override with JUSTDEPLOY_HOME and JUSTDEPLOY_SRV if needed.

This is the part JustDeploy does for you. setup detects what's missing and installs Caddy (TLS + reverse proxy, admin API on localhost:2019), Docker, and Railpack + a BuildKit daemon for container builds, then makes sure the Caddy service and admin API are live. The one-command installer above already ran it; run it yourself after a manual install:

justdeploy setup                # installs Caddy + Docker + Railpack, starts + verifies
justdeploy setup --no-docker    # skip Docker (no Postgres, no container builds)

It's idempotent — anything already present is skipped, so it's safe to re-run. It runs as root (it installs system packages) and only supports Debian/Ubuntu; on anything else it prints the manual steps instead of guessing. When it finishes you'll see a green checklist:

→ Caddy already installed — skipping.
→ enabling + starting the Caddy service…
→ installing Railpack (container build tool)…

  ✓ Node 22.11.0
  ✓ Caddy installed
  ✓ Caddy service running
  ✓ Caddy admin API (http://localhost:2019)
  ✓ Docker
  ✓ Railpack (container builds)
  ✓ BuildKit daemon

Host ready. Deploy your first app:
  justdeploy add https://github.com/you/site.git

Point JustDeploy at a git repo — that's it. It detects the type from the repo's package.json and infers the domain, so a bare add just works:

# type detected (Next/Adonis/Vite/CRA/static), domain inferred as .
justdeploy add https://github.com/you/site.git

# …or pin either explicitly
justdeploy add https://github.com/you/api.git --type adonis --domain api.example.com

Static apps (React/Vite/static) are served straight from Caddy; Next.js and the catch-all app type build into a container with Railpack (it detects the package manager and runtime — pnpm, Node version, and so on — automatically). add clones, builds, wires up Caddy (which fetches a Let's Encrypt cert), and starts serving. Manage it:

justdeploy ls               # what's deployed, ports, pids
justdeploy logs app -f      # tail the build/run log
justdeploy deploy app       # redeploy (pull → build → swap)
justdeploy rollback app     # instantly revert to the previous release
justdeploy gc               # reclaim disk: trim old container images

Supported --type values: vite, react, static, adonis, nextjs, app, postgres.

JustDeploy ships a control panel and deploys its own dashboard like any other app. One command builds the React UI, installs a systemd service, and adds the TLS route:

justdeploy dashboard install --domain panel.example.com

It prints an admin password — save it. The panel runs as the justdeploy-dashboard systemd service on 127.0.0.1:4999, served over HTTPS by Caddy. On first visit, a setup wizard walks you through host readiness, base domain, GitHub, and your first deploy. Reset the password any time with justdeploy dashboard password <new>.

Public repos clone without auth. To deploy private repos, give JustDeploy a GitHub personal access token (classic, repo scope — create one at github.com/settings/tokens):

justdeploy github <your-token>     # stores it; private repos will now clone
justdeploy github                  # show connection status
justdeploy github --clear          # disconnect

In the dashboard you can paste the same token in the new-project flow to browse and pick private repos directly.

Turn on a signed webhook so pushing to a repo's default branch redeploys the matching app automatically:

justdeploy webhook

It prints the Payload URL and secret to paste into GitHub → repo Settings → Webhooks (content type application/json, "Just the push event"). Rotate the secret with justdeploy webhook --rotate.

state.db and each app's data/ dir are the only irreplaceable state on the box — so back them up elsewhere. JustDeploy uploads to any S3-compatible bucket (AWS S3 or Cloudflare R2), no extra dependencies:

justdeploy backup config --endpoint https://<acct>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com \
  --bucket my-backups --access-key <k> --secret-key <s> --region auto

justdeploy backup                    # snapshot + upload (state.db + data + pg_dump)
justdeploy backup --schedule daily   # optional: install a systemd timer
justdeploy restore <file> --yes      # bring it all back

One command reports everything — it installs nothing, just checks:

justdeploy doctor

  ✓ Node 22.11.0
  ✓ Caddy installed
  ✓ Caddy service running
  ✓ Caddy admin API (http://localhost:2019)
  ✓ Docker
  ✓ Railpack (container builds)
  ✓ BuildKit daemon

All green? Open your app's domain in a browser — it should load over HTTPS with a valid certificate. Any red line tells you what to fix; re-run justdeploy setup to install what's missing.

Reverses setup. By default it removes everything — apps, databases, Caddy (package + config), state, and the checkout — after printing the plan and prompting y/N. Flags only hold things back:

justdeploy uninstall                 # full removal (prompts to confirm)
justdeploy uninstall --keep-data     # keep state.db, app files, and db volumes
justdeploy uninstall --keep-caddy    # leave Caddy installed, just drop the routes
justdeploy uninstall --yes           # skip the prompt (scripts / non-interactive)

It always shows exactly what it will do and waits for y before touching anything, so there's no way to nuke the box by fat-fingering one command. Docker is always left in place — it's a shared tool. Piped/non-interactive runs (no terminal) need --yes instead of the prompt.