App Platform

Apps is WAYSCloud's container app platform. Deploy Docker containers directly from GitHub/GitLab. Supports auto-scaling, custom domains with free SSL, environment variables and real-time logs.

What it is

App Platform is WAYSCloud's runtime for containerized applications. Give it a Docker image or a Git repository and it builds, provisions backing services, deploys, and routes traffic over HTTPS — all in a single flow.

The platform recognizes common workloads (WordPress, Nextcloud, Ghost, Drupal, and more) and automatically suggests the database, cache, and storage they need. You confirm once, and the platform creates the services, wires them in via environment variables, and brings the app up.

All apps get an automatic per-domain Let's Encrypt certificate. Custom domains hosted in WAYSCloud DNS are configured with zero manual DNS — we set the records for you.

When to use

Use this when you need:

• Deploy real applications (CMS, dashboards, APIs) without provisioning a database, cache, or storage bucket separately
• Run Docker images directly from Docker Hub, GitHub Container Registry, or your own registry
• Build from a Git repository — public or private, with stored credentials
• Attach existing databases, Redis instances, or S3 buckets to running apps with one click
• Custom domains with automatic TLS — zero-config when your domain is in WAYSCloud DNS
• Scale-to-zero for idle apps — pay only when traffic arrives

When NOT to use:

• Full server / OS control — use VPS
• GPU or ML workloads — use GPU Studio
• Static sites only — a static hosting solution is simpler

How it works

1. Pick how to deploy. Provide a Docker image URI (e.g. ghost:latest) or a Git repository URL. A Dockerfile is optional — the platform auto-detects Node.js, Python, and static sites.

2. Review suggested services. The platform classifies the image and shows what it needs:

• Required dependencies (e.g. database for WordPress) — pre-checked
• Recommended dependencies (e.g. Redis cache for Nextcloud) — pre-checked, can be unchecked
• Optional dependencies — opt-in

For each service you can create a fresh one or attach an existing database/Redis/bucket you already have.

3. Confirm. A 10-step orchestrator runs:

✓ validating
✓ provisioning_database
✓ provisioning_redis
✓ provisioning_s3
✓ validating_credentials
✓ configuring_network
✓ writing_secrets
✓ deploying_app
✓ verifying_instance_ready
✓ verifying_app_health

If any step fails, the platform stops and shows you exactly which step. Provisioned resources are not silently deleted — you keep them and can fix the issue.

4. App is live. It gets a default URL like myapp-x7q3.apps.wayscloud.services with automatic TLS. You can add custom domains and the platform issues a fresh Let's Encrypt certificate per domain.

Features

App Platform turns container images and Git repos into running, TLS-secured applications with their backing services already wired in.

Deployment

• Deploy from Docker Hub, GHCR, or your own image registry
• Build from public or private Git repos — Dockerfile optional
• Auto-detect runtime for Node.js, Python, and static sites when no Dockerfile is present
• Manual Dockerfile support — paste a custom Dockerfile for unsupported runtimes
• Import .env files to set runtime environment variables securely
• CLI env var management: list, set, unset, import
• GitHub auto-deploy: automatic deploy on push (v1, GitHub only)
• App name lookup — use app name instead of full ID in CLI commands
• Stored Git credentials per provider (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps)
• Stack deploy orchestrator — image + DB + cache + storage in one step
• Workload classification — auto-suggests required services for known images
• Zero-downtime container recreate on image change
• Restart, stop, start, scale up/down without losing state
• Per-deploy revision history with full deploy log

Backing services

• Auto-provisioning of PostgreSQL, MariaDB/MySQL, Redis, and S3 buckets
• Attach existing databases, Redis instances, or buckets to a running app
• Detach service without deleting the underlying resource
• Refresh credentials — rotate without redeploy downtime
• Workload-specific environment variable mapping (WordPress, Nextcloud, Ghost, generic)
• Firewall rules created automatically between app and backing services

Domains and TLS

• Default *.apps.wayscloud.services URL with automatic per-domain Let's Encrypt cert
• Custom domains — bring your own domain
• Zero-config setup when your domain is in WAYSCloud DNS — A record + TXT verification handled for you
• Manual setup for external DNS — clear instructions, real-time verification
• Automatic certificate renewal via ACME (no manual renewals)
• TLS expiry monitoring with multi-stage alerts (30/14/7/1 days)

Operations

• Live container metrics (CPU, memory, network in/out)
• Streamed container logs in the dashboard
• Health check endpoint per app (configurable path)
• Scale-to-zero for idle apps — wakes on first request
• Configurable min/max instance count per app
• Per-app event timeline showing deploys, scales, attaches, and TLS issuance

Validated workloads

• WordPress — database auto-provisioned, persistent uploads
• Nextcloud — full DB + Redis cache + S3 object storage stack
• Ghost — MariaDB auto-provisioned, persistent content
• Drupal, Joomla, Matomo — database auto-provisioned
• Custom Docker images — any image that listens on a TCP port
• Custom Git repositories — any repo with a Dockerfile

Public API

App Platform has a public REST API for automation, CI/CD, and Terraform. Authenticate with a Service API Key (X-API-Key header) with apps permission.

Method	Path	Description
GET	/v1/apps/plans	List available plans with pricing
GET	/v1/apps/regions	List available regions
GET	/v1/apps	List apps (paginated)
POST	/v1/apps	Create app
GET	/v1/apps/{app_id}	Get app details
PATCH	/v1/apps/{app_id}	Update configuration
DELETE	/v1/apps/{app_id}	Delete app (soft delete)
POST	/v1/apps/{app_id}/deploy/image	Deploy from container image
POST	/v1/apps/{app_id}/start	Start or wake app
POST	/v1/apps/{app_id}/stop	Stop app
POST	/v1/apps/{app_id}/restart	Restart app
GET	/v1/apps/{app_id}/logs	Get container logs

See the full Apps API Reference for request/response schemas and examples.

Getting started

Get started with App Platform from your WAYSCloud dashboard.

Limits and quotas

Limits and quotas depend on the selected plan and region. See the dashboard or API for current constraints.

Related services

• Virtual Private Servers
• DNS Management
• Object Storage (S3)

Open App Platform in dashboard