Recommended configurations by app type

HTML, CSS, and client-side JS. Marketing sites, documentation, portfolios. Served via a lightweight static file server.

[app]
name = "my-site"
runtime = "node"           # or "static"

[web]
port = 3000
health = "/health"         # or "/" for static sites

[resources]
memory = "256mb"
cpu = 0.25

• For pure static sites, use a minimal HTTP server like serve or http-server
• No database needed — skip [data] entirely
• 256mb is the platform minimum — plenty for static content with no server-side processing
• Frameworks: Astro (static), Vite, 11ty, Hugo (with Node server wrapper)

REST or GraphQL endpoints, webhook receivers, microservices. Stateless request-response with no frontend.

[app]
name = "my-api"
runtime = "node"           # or "python"; use "docker" for custom runtimes

[web]
port = 3000
health = "/health"

[resources]
memory = "256mb"
cpu = 0.5

• Go and Rust APIs run comfortably on the 256mb minimum due to their low memory overhead
• For Python (Flask, FastAPI): 256mb minimum, 512mb if using pandas/numpy
• Add [data] mode = "pocketbase" if you need persistent storage
• Set env vars for external service keys: bunx percher env set STRIPE_KEY=...
• Frameworks: Express, Fastify, Hono, Flask, FastAPI, Gin, Actix, Fiber

Server-rendered apps with both frontend and backend. The most common deployment type — includes HTML rendering, API routes, and asset serving.

[app]
name = "my-app"
runtime = "node"

[web]
port = 3000
health = "/health"         # or "/api/health"

[resources]
memory = "512mb"
cpu = 0.5

• Next.js, Remix, SvelteKit, Nuxt, and Astro SSR all work out of the box
• 512mb handles SSR rendering, API routes, and typical traffic well
• For apps with image processing or heavy SSR: consider 1gb
• Next.js: ensure standalone output mode or standard start script in package.json
• Health endpoint: most frameworks serve / successfully which works as a health check

CRUD applications, admin panels, dashboards, SaaS apps. Server-rendered frontend with a managed PocketBase database for auth, storage, and data.

[app]
name = "my-app"
runtime = "node"

[web]
port = 3000
health = "/health"

[resources]
memory = "512mb"
cpu = 0.5

[data]
mode = "pocketbase"

• PocketBase provides: SQLite database, REST API, auth, file storage, realtime subscriptions
• Your app receives POCKETBASE_URL (internal) and POCKETBASE_PUBLIC_URL (public with SSL)
• Percher auto-creates a superuser and injects POCKETBASE_ADMIN_EMAIL + POCKETBASE_ADMIN_PASSWORD
• For Vite-based frontends, VITE_POCKETBASE_URL is also injected automatically
• PocketBase admin UI is at pb-<app-name>.percher.run/_/
• The PocketBase sidecar runs in its own container with 128mb — separate from your app's resources
• Good for: todo apps, blogs, CMS, user dashboards, internal tools, MVPs

Chat apps, live dashboards, collaborative editors, notification systems. Uses WebSocket or Server-Sent Events for persistent connections.

[app]
name = "my-realtime-app"
runtime = "node"

[web]
port = 3000
health = "/health"

[resources]
memory = "512mb"           # more if many concurrent connections
cpu = 0.5

• WebSocket and SSE connections are supported through the Caddy reverse proxy
• Memory scales with concurrent connections — estimate ~1mb per active WebSocket connection
• For 500+ concurrent connections: increase to 1gb
• If using PocketBase realtime subscriptions, add [data] mode = "pocketbase"
• Frameworks: Socket.io, ws, Hono WebSocket, Fastify WebSocket

Job processors, scheduled tasks, queue consumers. Typically no web frontend — but still needs a health endpoint for Percher's health checks.

[app]
name = "my-worker"
runtime = "node"           # or "python"; use "docker" for custom runtimes

[web]
port = 3000                # minimal health server
health = "/health"

[resources]
memory = "256mb"           # depends on job complexity
cpu = 0.5

• Your worker MUST expose an HTTP health endpoint — Percher needs it to verify the container is running
• Pattern: run your job processor alongside a minimal HTTP server on port 3000 that returns 200 on /health
• For CPU-intensive batch jobs: increase cpu to 1.0
• For memory-intensive processing (large files, data transforms): increase memory to 512mb or 1gb
• Use env vars for queue connection strings: bunx percher env set REDIS_URL=...

Data processing apps, ML model serving, Jupyter-backed APIs, scientific computing. Python with numpy, pandas, scikit-learn, or lightweight model inference.

[app]
name = "my-ml-app"
runtime = "python"

[web]
port = 8000                # FastAPI/uvicorn default
health = "/health"

[resources]
memory = "1gb"             # or more for large models
cpu = 1.0

• Python apps with numpy/pandas need at least 512mb — 1gb recommended
• For model inference (scikit-learn, small transformers): 1gb minimum
• Large language models or image models likely exceed Percher's resource limits — use a dedicated GPU service
• FastAPI with uvicorn: use port 8000, set in percher.toml [web] port = 8000
• Flask: default port 5000, update accordingly
• requirements.txt or pyproject.toml is auto-detected by Nixpacks (Percher's fallback builder for Python)
• Percher has a 30-second health check timeout — ensure your app starts within that window

Compiled language services with minimal memory footprint. Ideal for high-throughput, low-latency APIs and utilities.

[app]
name = "my-service"
runtime = "docker"         # Go/Rust via Dockerfile until native labels land

[web]
port = 8080                # Go default; Rust varies
health = "/health"

[resources]
memory = "256mb"           # platform minimum; compiled binaries leave headroom
cpu = 0.25

• Go and Rust binaries are extremely memory-efficient — the 256mb minimum handles most workloads with plenty of headroom
• For services processing large payloads or many concurrent requests: 512mb
• Use a Dockerfile for Go/Rust projects until native runtime labels are added to percher.toml
• Build a small final image with a multi-stage Dockerfile for best cold start and disk usage
• Rust build times can be long (2-5 min) — prefer release binaries in the final stage
• Common ports: Go stdlib net/http defaults to 8080, Actix/Axum default varies — set explicitly

Apps built from a monorepo with multiple packages (e.g., shared libraries + app). Percher builds from the project root (multi-stage Dockerfile for Node/Bun; Nixpacks for other runtimes).

[app]
name = "my-app"
runtime = "node"

[web]
port = 3000
health = "/health"

[resources]
memory = "512mb"
cpu = 0.5

• Percher uploads and builds from the project root — all workspace packages are included
• Ensure your start script in package.json builds and starts the right package
• For Turborepo/Nx: the start script should handle the build chain
• If using workspace dependencies, ensure they're built before the app starts
• Larger monorepos may need more memory during the build phase (this doesn't affect runtime)

Laravel, Symfony, or vanilla PHP apps. Use a Dockerfile until native PHP runtime labels are added to Percher config.

[app]
name = "my-php-app"
runtime = "docker"         # PHP via Dockerfile until native labels land

[web]
port = 8080
health = "/health"

[resources]
memory = "256mb"
cpu = 0.5

• Use a Dockerfile for PHP projects until native PHP runtime labels are added to percher.toml
• Laravel: ensure APP_KEY is set via env vars, port matches artisan serve
• For Laravel with database: add [data] mode = "pocketbase" or set DATABASE_URL env var to an external DB
• PHP built-in server: php -S 0.0.0.0:8080 -t public
• Memory: 256mb for most PHP apps, 512mb for Laravel with queues or heavy ORM usage