Web Services

Web Services#

Choose Web Service for public APIs, application backends, and full-stack servers. It starts a persistent process behind a public URL and checks an HTTP path before the release becomes ready.

Required runtime behavior#

Your application must start successfully and listen on the port provided in PORT. It should bind to 0.0.0.0, not only to localhost. A Node server normally follows this pattern:

const port = Number(process.env.PORT);
app.listen(port, "0.0.0.0");

Set a health path such as /health to a route that returns a successful response without an authenticated session. The release waits for that route within the timeout selected in the dashboard.

Configure and deploy#

Choose a supported source, select a compatible stack or enter the build and start commands, then set environment variables and the health path. Use the build log to diagnose dependency or build failures; use the deployment details to distinguish a successful build from an application startup or health-check failure.

When to choose Frontend App instead#

Use Frontend App when the service is primarily a server-rendered user interface. Both types are public Node runtimes, but the dedicated Frontend App choice makes the frontend execution model explicit in the project workflow.