# Apps Deploy static sites, bundles, Dockerfiles, and OCI images to stable Kortix URLs. Canonical page: https://kortix.com/docs/feature-flags/apps A Kortix App is a provider-neutral serverless deployment owned by one project. An App owns one stable URL. Each deployment is immutable and numbered. A failed deployment never replaces live traffic. Apps is a [feature flag](/docs/feature-flags). Its stability is **stable**, and it is off by default. Turn it on per project before you deploy. Building on Apps from TypeScript? See [SDK → Apps](/docs/sdk/apps) for the client surface and the React hooks. ## Turn Apps on Open **Settings → Experimental** and switch **Apps** on for the project. You need `project.customize.write`. While the flag is off: - Every Apps route answers `403` with `{ error, code: "feature_disabled", feature: "apps" }`. - `kortix apps ` prints the same sentence and exits `1`. - The **Apps** entry does not appear in the project sidebar. Opening `/projects//apps` directly shows a gate screen that links to the flag. The page itself never enables the feature. ## Source kinds All four source kinds run on the same Kortix sandbox hosting backend. Kortix selects Daytona, Platinum, or E2B. They therefore share one deployment contract and one cold-wake contract. | Kind | Deploy this | Kortix does | |---|---|---| | `static` | Plain HTML, CSS, JS, or a prebuilt SPA or `dist/` | Serves the files | | `bundle` | A package source | Runs the install and build commands, then serves the output directory | | `dockerfile` | A repository with a Dockerfile | Builds the image, then runs your `command` on your `port` | | `oci_image` | A public image reference | Runs your `command` on your `port` | Pick the fastest path for the result you want: - Build Vite locally and deploy `dist/` as `static` for the lowest latency. - Deploy the package source as `bundle` when Kortix must run the install and build. - Export Next.js with `output: 'export'` and deploy `out/` as `static` when the App needs no server runtime. - Deploy server-rendered Next.js and arbitrary services as `dockerfile`, with an explicit command and port. - Deploy an existing public image as `oci_image`, with an explicit command and port. `dockerfile` and `oci_image` require `--command` and `--port`. `static` and `bundle` do not. ## Deploy from the CLI ```bash kortix apps deploy . ``` `deploy` creates the App on first use, registers an immutable artifact — uploading a `.tar.gz` for a path, or recording the reference for `--image` — builds it, and blocks until the stable URL is ready. The wait budget is `--wait-seconds`, default `1200`. Use `--no-wait` only when another process owns status tracking. ```bash kortix apps deploy dist --slug docs --access project kortix apps deploy . --type dockerfile --command '["node","server.js"]' --port 3000 kortix apps deploy --image ghcr.io/acme/service:2026-08-07 --command '["node","server.js"]' --port 3000 ``` The full subcommand list: | Command | What it does | |---|---| | `kortix apps list` | List the project's Apps. `--json`. | | `kortix apps create ` | Create an App without deploying it. | | `kortix apps deploy [path]` | Deploy a directory, a `.tar.gz`, or `--image`. | | `kortix apps show ` | Show the App and its deployments. `--json`. | | `kortix apps logs [deployment]` | Read runtime logs. `--after N --limit N`. | | `kortix apps start ` | Permit requests and start the App. | | `kortix apps stop ` | Suspend compute now. | | `kortix apps rollback ` | Move traffic to a ready deployment. | | `kortix apps access ` | Read or update the access policy. | | `kortix apps access-link ` | Create a short-lived authenticated browser URL. | | `kortix apps delete ` | Delete the App and its runtimes. `--yes`. | `--project`, `--host`, and `--json` work on every subcommand. ### Deployment defaults from `kortix.yaml` An `apps.` block holds local deploy defaults. The server stays the App control plane: the block never carries access, passwords, or member ids. ```yaml apps: docs: path: docs/dist type: static spa: true readiness_path: / idle_timeout_seconds: 300 monthly_budget_usd: 5 resources: cpu: 1 memory_gb: 2 disk_gb: 10 env: PUBLIC_BASE: https://kortix.com secrets: API_TOKEN: docs_api_token ``` Select the block with `kortix apps deploy --manifest-app docs`. An explicit flag always wins over the block. ### Machine, idle timeout, and budget | Setting | Default | Bounds | |---|---|---| | `cpu` | `1` | `1` to `32` cores | | `memory_gb` | `2` | `1` to `128` GiB | | `disk_gb` | `10` | `1` to `500` GiB | | `idle_timeout_seconds` | `300` | `120` to `86400` | | `monthly_budget_usd` | `5` | `0` to `100000`, or the operator's `KORTIX_APPS_MAX_MONTHLY_BUDGET_USD` | Apps reject a machine larger than the limits instead of clamping it. An App records its requested spec and bills off that record, so a silent downgrade would charge for compute the provider never gave. An out-of-range value answers `400` with `code: "app_machine_out_of_range"` or `"app_budget_out_of_range"`. Creating an App past the account's App quota answers `402` with `code: "app_quota_exceeded"`. A duplicate slug in the same project answers `409`. ## The stable URL Kortix assigns the hostname when the App is created and never changes it. On Kortix cloud it is `--.apps.kortix.com`. Self-hosted deployments serve their own wildcard domain from `KORTIX_APPS_BASE_DOMAIN`. An authorized request to a suspended App resumes its sandbox, waits for readiness, and proxies that same request. You do not have to wake it first. While the App is waiting for its first deployment, queued, validating, building, provisioning, checking, activating, or starting: - A browser navigation gets a branded status page, HTTP `202`, `retry-after: 3`, and a 3-second meta refresh. - A machine client gets `202` and JSON — for a cold start, `{ code: "app_starting" }` with `retry-after: 3`. Terminal and paused states answer differently: | State | HTTP | `code` | |---|---|---| | Deployment failed | `503` | `app_deployment_failed` | | Deployment cancelled | `503` | `app_deployment_cancelled` | | Monthly compute budget reached | `402` | `app_budget_exceeded` | | Account cannot start compute | `402` | `app_account_unfunded` | | Account at its concurrent-App limit | `429` | `app_concurrency_limit` | `kortix apps stop` suspends compute immediately; the next authorized request resumes the App. `kortix apps start` warms it before traffic arrives. > **Cold starts stay invisible** > The stable URL never exposes an `app_stopped` state. A provider edge that > answers `502` during the first request after a resume is served as the ordinary > cold-start page instead. A warm App owns its own HTTP status, including a > deliberate application `502`. ## Access modes An App's access mode is a per-resource visibility setting on top of the role model, not a role. It decides who can open this one App. It grants no permission the role verdict denies. See [Accounts & access](/docs/accounts#per-feature-access-settings). New Apps are private. Choose one mode: | Mode | Who can open the App | |---|---| | `private` | The creator only | | `project` | Every principal who can read the project | | `restricted` | Selected users and groups | | `public` | Anyone, with no authentication | | `password` | Anyone with the App password | Set it at deploy time or afterwards: ```bash kortix apps deploy . --access restricted --members m1,m2 --groups g1 kortix apps access docs --mode password --password 's3cret' kortix apps access-link docs --json ``` Kortix access uses a five-minute exchange URL and an eight-hour, host-only, secure cookie. `access-link` mints that exchange URL without changing the policy — treat it as a secret. Changing an access policy increments its revision, which revokes every existing App cookie. Passwords are Argon2id hashes; the API, the CLI, and the SDK never return a password or its hash. > **Never put an App password in your repo** > `kortix.yaml` holds deployment defaults only. Pass a password with `--password`, > or set it from the access modal. Being able to see an App listed and being able to open it are different verdicts. A project manager sees every App in the project, so a private App stays manageable when its creator leaves. An account owner and an account admin hold manager-equivalent access on every project, so the same applies to them. The App record reports `viewer_can_access` for the second question. ## Versions and rollback Each deployment gets the next version number for its App and is immutable. The deployment record keeps its source kind, hosting provider, build and runtime spec, attempt count, and error code. Every deployment also records who made it: `created_by`, `actor_type` (`human`, `agent`, `service_account`, or `system`), and the originating `source_session_id` when an agent deployed it. Move traffic back to any ready deployment: ```bash kortix apps rollback docs ``` Rollback starts the target deployment's runtime first, then stops the previous one. A target that fails to start leaves the current deployment serving. Each cold start compares the active deployment's runtime version against the current Kortix App runtime. The old deployment keeps serving while Kortix asynchronously builds one immutable replacement with the latest `kortix-appd` and Caddy binaries. A PostgreSQL advisory lock prevents duplicate refreshes. ## The Apps page Once the flag is on, an **Apps** row appears in the project sidebar, under Customize. The page is operational, not a creation surface: it lists the project's Apps with live state, a signed preview of each running App, and the access controls. Deploying is `kortix apps deploy .`. An App with no active deployment reads **Not deployed**, never **Running**. A suspended App's preview issues the request that wakes it. Kortix opens `*.apps.kortix.com` and `*.apps.localhost` on their direct origin rather than through a session's web forward proxy. That preserves the host-only access cookie and removes one network hop.