Deploy - InstaPods

The deploy command is a one-shot workflow that creates a pod (if it doesn’t exist), syncs your local code, installs dependencies, and reloads the app service. You can also deploy straight from a GitHub repo with --repo — no local files needed.

Basic Usage

# Deploy current directory (auto-detects preset)
instapods deploy myapp

# Deploy a specific directory
instapods deploy myapp --local ./src

# Explicit preset
instapods deploy myapp --preset nodejs

# Skip reload (just sync files)
instapods deploy myapp --no-reload

What Happens

Pod check — If the pod doesn’t exist, it’s created (and the CLI waits for it to be running)
File sync — Local directory is uploaded to the pod’s app root
Reload — App service is restarted, dependencies auto-installed (skip with --no-reload)

If the pod already exists, the command skips creation and goes straight to syncing.

Deploy from a GitHub repo

Point deploy at a GitHub repository instead of local files. InstaPods detects the stack from the repo, creates the pod, attaches the repo, and builds & runs it. Every push after that redeploys automatically (with build logs and rollback, like git deploy).

# Name is optional — derived from the repo when omitted
instapods deploy --repo https://github.com/owner/repo

# Choose the name, branch, and a monorepo subdirectory
instapods deploy my-api --repo https://github.com/owner/repo --branch dev --subdir services/api

With --repo the CLI skips local file sync: it detects the preset from the repo’s root files (same rules as below), creates the pod, then follows the first build to completion. Public repos work out of the box; private repos need a GitHub account connected in the dashboard. If the stack can’t be detected, pass --preset.

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`--local`	Local directory to sync	Current directory (`.`)
`--repo`	Deploy a GitHub repo URL instead of local files	None
`--branch`	Git branch to deploy (with `--repo`)	Repo default branch
`--subdir`	Subdirectory to deploy (with `--repo`, for monorepos)	Repo root
`-p, --preset`	Preset: `static`, `php`, `nodejs`, `python`	Auto-detected
`--no-reload`	Skip reloading app service after sync	`false`
`--exclude`	Patterns to exclude from sync (repeatable)	`node_modules`, `.git`, `.env`, `__pycache__`, `.DS_Store`
`-r, --region`	Target region	Auto-select
`--plan`	Plan slug	`launch`
`--ssh-key`	SSH public key or path	None
`--timeout`	Max seconds to wait for pod creation	`120`

Preset Auto-Detection

If --preset is omitted, the CLI scans your local directory for signature files:

Files Found	Detected Preset
`package.json`, `tsconfig.json`, `yarn.lock`, `next.config.js`, etc.	`nodejs`
`composer.json`, `*.php`, `artisan`, `wp-config.php`	`php`
`requirements.txt`, `pyproject.toml`, `manage.py`, `app.py`, `*.py`	`python`
`index.html`, `*.html`	`static`

Detection checks in order: Node.js, PHP, Python, Static. The first match wins.

Examples

# Deploy a Node.js app (new pod)
instapods deploy my-api
# →
# →   Deploying my-api
# →   Detected nodejs (package.json)
# →
# →   Creating pod ······································ ✓ 1.2s
# →   42 files uploaded ································· ✓ 0.8s
# →   Reloading ········································· ✓ 1.4s
# →     npm deps installed · service active · HTTP 200
# →
# →   ✓ Deployed in 3.4s
# →   → https://my-api.nbg1-1.instapods.app

# Re-deploy to an existing pod
instapods deploy my-api
# →
# →   Deploying my-api
# →   Pod exists (nodejs · running)
# →
# →   42 files uploaded ································· ✓ 0.6s
# →   Reloading ········································· ✓ 1.1s
# →     npm deps installed · service active · HTTP 200
# →
# →   ✓ Deployed in 1.7s
# →   → https://my-api.nbg1-1.instapods.app

# Deploy to a specific plan and region
instapods deploy staging-api --preset python --plan build -r eu-nbg

# Deploy without reload (just sync files)
instapods deploy my-site --local ./dist --no-reload

# Deploy with custom excludes
instapods deploy myapp --exclude "*.log" --exclude "tmp"

Reload is on by default — it auto-installs dependencies from package.json or requirements.txt before restarting the service. Use --no-reload to skip this step if you only want to sync files.

​Basic Usage

​What Happens

​Deploy from a GitHub repo

​Flags

​Preset Auto-Detection

​Examples

Basic Usage

What Happens

Deploy from a GitHub repo

Flags

Preset Auto-Detection

Examples