Build settings

You set these when you create an app, and change them on the app page under Source and build → Edit settings.

Note

Saving settings doesn’t redeploy. The new settings apply from the next deployment, and the running version is unchanged until then. Click Deploy, or push a commit, to use them.

Fields

Field	Build types	Default	What it does
Repository	all		Set when the app is created. It can’t be changed, because that would be a different app.
Branch	all	the repository’s default branch	Pushes to this branch deploy the app, if automatic deploys are on.
Root directory	all	. (the repository root)	The folder that contains the app. Builds run here.
Install command	Static, Node.js	detected from your lockfile	Installs dependencies. See Build types.
Build command	Static, Node.js	none	Runs after installing, for example npm run build.
Start command	Node.js	npm start	Starts your server.
Output directory	Static	dist with a build command, otherwise .	The folder whose files are served.
Port	Node.js, Dockerfile	3000	The port your server listens on. Also set as the PORT variable.
Health check path	all	none	See Health check below.

Root directory

Set this for monorepos, where the app lives in a subfolder such as apps/web. Everything else is relative to it: the install and build run there, the output directory is inside it, and a Dockerfile is looked for there.

If the folder doesn’t exist on the branch, the build stops with “Root directory ‘…’ does not exist in the repository”.

Health check path

Before visitors are switched to a new version, Shiplon checks it really works:

• Without a path (the default), the new version must accept connections on its port, and its home page must answer without a server error. Any status below 500 counts, because many apps answer / with a redirect, 401 or 404.
• With a path, for example /healthz, a GET on that path must answer 2xx or 3xx. If it keeps answering 4xx for over a minute, the deployment stops with a message saying so.

If the check fails, the new version doesn’t replace the old one. The previous version keeps serving, and the deployment is marked Deployment failed.

A good health endpoint is quick, needs no login, and checks what the app needs to serve requests:

app.get("/healthz", async (req, res) => {
  await db.query("select 1");
  res.status(200).send("ok");
});

Common setups

App	Build type	Build command	Output / start	Port
Plain HTML in the repository root	Static	none	.
Vite (React, Vue, Svelte)	Static	npm run build	dist
Astro (static output)	Static	npm run build	dist
Create React App	Static	npm run build	build
Next.js	Node.js	npm run build	npm start (next start)	3000
Express or Fastify API	Node.js	none, or npm run build for TypeScript	npm start	your app’s port
Python, Go, PHP…	Dockerfile	in your Dockerfile	in your Dockerfile	the port it listens on

Automatic deploys

Deploy automatically on push is on by default: every push to the app’s branch starts a deployment. Turn it off to deploy only when you click Deploy. See Deployments and rollbacks.