Render

Render hosts your app as a web service, so there is no server to set up or keep running. Render runs the same Node.js server described in the Node.js guide, builds it from your Git repository, and gives the app a public address with HTTPS.

This guide walks through deploying one standalone app from scratch. You will create the app and push it to a Git repository, give it a production database and an auth secret, prepare the database, and then create a Render web service that builds and runs it.

You also need a Render account and a repository on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket. Run the commands in this guide on your own computer. Render builds and runs the app from your repository.

Step 1: Create the app

Create your new standalone app. The example below creates an app from the Chat template, but you can start from any template. Move into the app's folder and install its dependencies. corepack enable turns on the pnpm version the app expects, so you do not need to install pnpm yourself.

npx --yes @agent-native/core@latest create my-app --standalone --template chat

cd my-app

corepack enable

pnpm install

Replace my-app with your own app name if you like. The rest of this guide assumes you are inside the app's folder.

Render builds the app from a Git repository, so push the app's folder to a new repository on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket before you continue. Commit the pnpm-lock.yaml file too, because the build installs the exact versions it lists.

Step 2: Configure environment secrets

The app reads its production settings from environment variables:

The exports below make the following commands work in this shell. Before deploying, save these same variables in your host's project or service environment settings. Step 4 shows how to save them in Render.

Database URL

During local development the app stores data in a local database when DATABASE_URL is unset. A deployed app needs a real PostgreSQL database that keeps its data between deploys. Render replaces the service's files on every deploy and restart, so the database must live outside the web service. Copy the connection string from your provider and export it:

export DATABASE_URL='your-postgres-url-string'

The database provider guides show where to find the connection string for each provider. Render Postgres also works. Use its external connection string here, and its internal connection string in the web service's settings.

Auth secret

Generate this once and keep it stable across deploys.

The app uses BETTER_AUTH_SECRET to sign user sessions. If it changes, every signed-in user is signed out. The command below generates a random value:

export BETTER_AUTH_SECRET="$(openssl rand -hex 32)"

Save the generated value somewhere safe, such as a password manager. Use the same value every time you deploy.

Public URL

Optional. Set it when using a custom domain, reverse proxy, or an auth/OAuth flow that needs a fixed public origin.

BETTER_AUTH_URL is the public address people use to reach your app. Without it, the app works out its address from each incoming request. That is usually fine on the address Render gives you, but set it when you connect a custom domain so sign-in links and OAuth redirects use that domain.

export BETTER_AUTH_URL='https://your-domain.example'

Step 3: Migrate

Migrations create and update the tables the app needs in your database. Run this before the first deploy:

pnpm migrate:production

The command runs on your computer and connects to the production database with the DATABASE_URL you exported in Step 2. Run it again after you upgrade the app, before you deploy the new version.

On a paid Render instance, you can set the service's Pre-Deploy Command to pnpm migrate:production instead. Render then runs the migrations before each deploy goes live. The Pre-Deploy Command is not available on the Free instance type.

Step 4: Create the web service

In the Render dashboard, create a new Web Service and connect the repository from Step 1. Use these settings:

The Build Command turns on the app's pnpm version, installs the dependencies listed in pnpm-lock.yaml, and builds the app. NITRO_PRESET=render_com builds the same Node.js server as the Node.js guide, set up to serve its own static files. The Start Command runs that server. Render tells the server which port to use through the PORT environment variable, and the server reads it automatically.

Under Environment Variables, add DATABASE_URL and BETTER_AUTH_SECRET with the values you exported in Step 2. If you set BETTER_AUTH_URL, add it the same way.

Render picks the Node.js version from a NODE_VERSION environment variable, a .node-version or .nvmrc file, or the engines field in package.json, in that order. New services default to a version that meets the requirement above. To pin a version, add NODE_VERSION, for example with the value 24.

Step 5: Deploy

On the Free instance type, Render pauses the service after 15 minutes without traffic. The next visit then waits about a minute while the service starts again.

Deploy updates

Render deploys again every time you push to the branch you chose in Step 4. To ship a new version, run the migrations first, then push:

pnpm migrate:production

git push

The service settings and saved variables stay in place, so you do not need to repeat Step 4.

What's next

• Node.js - run the same server on a machine you manage
• Deployment Environment Variables - the full list of production settings
• Deployment - compare hosting targets and prerequisites