HostStack documentation

How HostStack fits together

• A team owns everything and is what's billed. People join it with a role — see Teams & roles.
• A project is one app: its services and databases share a private network and can reach each other by name.
• A service is a container built from your repo or an image — a web service, private service, worker, cron job or static site. Every push to its branch deploys it.
• A managed database is Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB or Redis, backed up for you. Linking one to a service injects its connection URL — DATABASE_URL, REDIS_URL or MONGO_URL.
• A dev box is a cloud development environment with Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode installed, next to the services it builds.

All of it can be driven from the dashboard, the CLI, the TypeScript SDK, or an AI agent through the MCP server — they call the same API.

Install the tools

npm install -g @hoststack.dev/cli
hoststack login --key hs_live_...
hoststack whoami

npm install @hoststack.dev/sdk

# Remote server — nothing to install
claude mcp add --transport http hoststack https://hoststack.dev/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer hs_live_..."

Create the API key under Settings → API keys in the dashboard. New here? The Quickstart takes you from a repository to a live URL in five minutes.

Get started

• QuickstartCreate an account, a project and a service, and ship your first deploy.
• DeployingRuntimes, build and start commands, Dockerfiles, blue-green deploys and rollback.

Dev boxes

• AI dev environmentsA cloud dev box with Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode, databases and a dev URL.
• Move your dev environmentBring your repo, swap docker-compose for in-box engines and restore your data.

Configure services

• Environment variablesSet, sync and protect env vars, secret files and bulk .env imports.
• Env groupsShare one set of variables across services and environments.
• Custom domainsPoint a domain at a service, verify it, and get automatic HTTPS.
• NetworkingPrivate networks, service-to-service DNS, public exposure and routing.
• Health checksThe probe path, intervals, grace period and container HEALTHCHECK.
• AutoscalingScale replicas on CPU, memory or requests per second, with anti-flap.
• Persistent volumesAttach disks that survive deploys, and back them up.
• Preview environmentsA deploy per pull request, and how it is cleaned up.
• Container runtimeThe exact sandbox your container runs in, and how to reproduce it locally.

Data

• Managed databasesPostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB and Redis, with backups and linking.

Jobs & observability

• Cron & uptimeScheduled cron services and uptime checks that alert when a service stops answering.
• WorkflowsDurable container tasks with schedules, retries and run history.
• Error trackingReport exceptions over HTTP, get grouped issues and alerts.
• Site analyticsCookieless pageviews, referrers and campaigns for every site you own.

Platform

• Your own machinesRun services and dev boxes on a desktop, home server or VPS you own.
• RegionsWhere HostStack runs, region slugs and latency.
• Teams & rolesOwner, admin and member roles, invites and transferring ownership.
• BillingPay-as-you-go pricing, the free allowance, invoices and payment methods.

Tools & automation

• CLIEvery command of @hoststack.dev/cli.
• TypeScript SDKDrive HostStack from code with @hoststack.dev/sdk.
• MCP serverLet Claude, Cursor and other AI agents manage HostStack.
• hoststack.yamlDeclare a service in a file in your repo and validate it in CI.
• TerraformThe Terraform provider, and scripted provisioning with the SDK or CLI.