Your First Deploy

This page walks through deploying your first Sails.js application with Slipway.

Prerequisites

Before deploying, make sure:

1. You have a Sails.js application ready
2. Your app has a Dockerfile in the root directory
3. The Slipway CLI is installed and authenticated

Need a Dockerfile?

If your Sails app doesn't have a Dockerfile yet, here's a simple one to get started:

FROM node:20-alpine

WORKDIR /app

COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --production

COPY . .

EXPOSE 1337

CMD ["node", "app.js"]

Initialize Your Project

Navigate to your Sails project and initialize it with Slipway:

cd ~/projects/my-sails-app

slipway init

This will:

1. Prompt you for a project name (defaults to your package.json name)
2. Check for a Dockerfile
3. Create the project in Slipway
4. Save a .slipway.json config file locally

  Initialize Slipway Project

  Project name: my-sails-app

  ✓ Project created

  Project: My Sails App
  Slug: my-sails-app
  Environment: production

  Run slipway slide to deploy your app.

Linking to Existing Projects

If the project already exists in Slipway (e.g., created via the dashboard), use slipway link instead:

slipway link my-sails-app

Deploy Your App

Navigate to your Sails project directory and deploy:

cd ~/projects/my-sails-app

slipway slide

You'll see the deployment progress:

$ slipway slide

  Sliding my-sails-app into production

  ✓ Deployment started

  Deployment ID: abc12345

  Building...
  Deploying...

  ✓ Deployment successful

  URL: https://my-sails-app.example.com

Verify Direct Access

Slipway assigns the deployment a direct URL using a port from 1338–1500. Test it from your computer or another network so the request crosses the provider firewall:

curl -I --connect-timeout 5 http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:ALLOCATED_PORT/health

A successful health response confirms that the app is running and the allocated port is reachable publicly. If the deployment log confirms a healthy container and a live Docker mapping but this request times out, allow the allocated port in both the VPS provider firewall and any active host firewall.

Custom Domains

Direct URLs are useful during setup and troubleshooting. Applications with a custom domain receive traffic through ports 80 and 443 instead.

Set Environment Variables

Most Sails apps need environment variables. Set them before or after deploying:

# Set individual variables
slipway env:set myapp DATABASE_URL=postgres://...
slipway env:set myapp SESSION_SECRET=your-secret-key
slipway env:set myapp NODE_ENV=production

# Or set multiple at once
slipway env:set myapp \
  DATABASE_URL=postgres://... \
  SESSION_SECRET=your-secret-key \
  NODE_ENV=production

Redeploy After Env Changes

After changing environment variables, redeploy your app for the changes to take effect:

slipway slide

Add a Custom Domain

Give your app a proper domain:

slipway domain:add myapp myapp.example.com

Then point your DNS to your Slipway server's IP address. SSL will be provisioned automatically via Caddy.

View Logs

Check your application logs:

# View recent logs
slipway logs myapp

# Tail logs in real-time
slipway logs myapp -t

Open the Helm (REPL)

Need to debug or query your production data? Open the Helm:

slipway helm myapp

Slipway Helm (myapp production)
Type .help for available commands

> await User.count()
42

> await User.find({ role: 'admin' })
[
  { id: 1, email: 'admin@example.com', role: 'admin' }
]

Deploy from Dashboard

You can also trigger deployments from the Slipway dashboard:

1. Go to your project
2. Click the Deploy tab
3. Slide to deploy (or click the deploy button)

The dashboard shows deployment history, logs, and status.

What's Next?

Congratulations! Your first Sails app is deployed. Next steps:

• Set up a database with one-click provisioning
• Configure rollbacks for quick recovery
• Explore the Bridge for data management
• Learn more CLI commands