> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.instapods.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Deploy, Reload, Restart

> Which command to run after you change something - code, environment variables, an uploaded file, or the pod itself.

InstaPods gives you three commands that all end with "your app is running the new thing", and their
names do not make the difference obvious. This page maps what you changed to the command that picks
it up.

## Pick a command

| You changed                                                                                | Run                             | What it does                                                                         |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Local source code                                                                          | `instapods deploy my-app`       | Uploads the changed files, installs dependencies, rebuilds, restarts the app service |
| A file already on the pod (uploaded, edited in the Web IDE, written over SSH)              | `instapods pods reload my-app`  | Restarts the app service so it re-reads what is on disk                              |
| Environment variables, set with `instapods env set`                                        | Nothing                         | `env set` writes the file and restarts the app service for you                       |
| A `.env` file you edited by hand on the pod                                                | `instapods pods reload my-app`  | Same as any other file you changed on the pod                                        |
| Dependencies only (`package.json`, `requirements.txt`, `composer.json`, `go.mod`)          | `instapods deploy my-app`       | The reload step installs them before the restart                                     |
| You want to force a rebuild                                                                | `instapods deploy my-app`       | Run the full deploy, without `--no-build`                                            |
| A system package, a database service, a stuck process, anything outside your app directory | `instapods pods restart my-app` | Reboots the whole container                                                          |

`instapods pods restart` also covers every case above that is already on the pod, since a reboot
restarts your app too. It is just the slower way to get there. What it cannot do is upload your local
files - that is `deploy`.

<Warning>
  Do not stop your app by killing its process (`instapods exec my-app -- pkill -f uvicorn` and
  friends). The app runs under systemd with `Restart=on-failure`, so it comes straight back, and
  `exec` runs as the `instapod` user, which cannot signal a service. Use `instapods pods reload` to
  restart the app service, or `instapods pods restart` to reboot the whole pod.
</Warning>

## What each command actually does

### `instapods deploy`

Two steps, in order:

1. **File sync.** Walks your local directory and uploads only files that differ from what is already
   on the pod, skipping anything matched by `--exclude` or by your `.gitignore`. See
   [Excluded files](#excluded-files) below.
2. **Reload.** Calls `POST /api/pods/{name}/reload`, which installs dependencies, runs the build for
   presets that have one, restarts the app service, then checks that the service came back up. For
   `nodejs`, `python` and `go` it also makes an HTTP request to the app and reports the status code.
   If the service crashed, the last lines of its log are printed for you.

`--no-reload` stops after step 1, so files are uploaded and nothing is restarted.

### `instapods pods reload`

Step 2 on its own: no file upload. Use it when the files on the pod are already what you want and you
just need the app to pick them up along with a dependency install.

What gets restarted depends on the preset:

| Preset                   | Services restarted        |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------- |
| `static`                 | nginx                     |
| `php`                    | php-fpm and nginx         |
| `nodejs`, `python`, `go` | the `app` systemd service |

If the pod is stopped, reload starts it first.

### `instapods pods restart`

Stops and starts the whole container, then waits for it to come back and re-points the proxy at it.
Everything inside restarts, including any database service you installed. It does not install
dependencies and does not build anything - it just brings the pod back up running whatever is on
disk.

This is the heavier option. It drops in-flight requests and takes longer than a reload, but it is the
only one that picks up changes outside your app directory.

## `--no-build` is not the same on every preset

`instapods deploy --no-build` skips the *build* step of the reload. Only two presets have one, so on
the rest it changes nothing:

| Preset   | With `--no-build`                                                                                            |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `nodejs` | `npm run build` is skipped. `npm install` still runs, with `--production` (dev dependencies are skipped too) |
| `go`     | `go mod download` and `go build` are both skipped, so the **previously compiled binary keeps running**       |
| `python` | No effect. There is no build step, and `pip install -r requirements.txt` still runs                          |
| `php`    | No effect. `composer install` still runs                                                                     |
| `static` | No effect. There is nothing to install or build                                                              |

<Note>
  On the `nodejs` preset you rarely need `--no-build` anyway: InstaPods hashes your source tree after
  each build and skips the build automatically when nothing changed. That is what
  `build skipped (unchanged)` in the deploy output means.
</Note>

## Excluded files

`instapods deploy` skips a file if it matches either of these:

* One of the `--exclude` patterns. The default set is `node_modules`, `vendor`, `.git`, `.env`,
  `__pycache__`, `.DS_Store`, `.venv`, `venv`, `.next`, `.instapods-build-hash`. Passing `--exclude`
  replaces this list, it does not add to it.
* A pattern in the `.gitignore` file in the directory you are deploying. This is on by default, and
  the file is read whether or not the directory is a git repository. Only that one file is read -
  `.gitignore` files in subdirectories are not.

Pass `--no-gitignore` to sync everything except the `--exclude` patterns.

<Warning>
  `.env` is excluded by default, and most `.gitignore` files list it too. A local `.env` file will
  **not** be uploaded by `instapods deploy`. Set those values with
  [`instapods env set`](/guides/environment-variables) instead.
</Warning>

If a file you expected to see on the pod is missing, this is almost always why. A build output
directory named in `.gitignore` (`dist/`, `build/`, `.next/`) is skipped for exactly the same reason,
which is fine when the pod builds your app itself and a problem when you meant to ship the built
files. In that case deploy the build directory directly:

```bash theme={null}
instapods deploy my-site --local ./dist
```

## Related

* [Environment Variables](/guides/environment-variables) - how values reach your app, per preset
* [`instapods deploy` reference](/cli/deploy)
* [`instapods pods` reference](/cli/pods)