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Deploy an Express / Node.js API on OrbixPanel

Any Node backend — Express, Fastify, Koa, NestJS — deploys as a managed Node process behind a reverse proxy.

The only thing you must get right: the port

OrbixPanel sets a PORT environment variable and forwards your domain to it. Your server must listen on it:

const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
app.listen(port, () => console.log(`listening on ${port}`));

Hard-coding a port means the health check can’t find your app and the deploy fails. This is the single most common mistake — read the port from the environment.

Start script

Give your package.json a start script:

{ "scripts": { "start": "node server.js" } }

OrbixPanel runs npm ci, then npm run build if you have one (e.g. TypeScript → tsc, or NestJS nest build), then npm start.

NestJS example:

{ "scripts": { "build": "nest build", "start": "node dist/main.js" } }

Deploy

  1. Push to Git → Apps → Deploy from Git → repo + branch → Deploy.
  2. Add your domain + SSL.

Database & secrets

  • Create a database in the panel and connect over localhost (don’t expose the DB port publicly).
  • Keep connection strings and keys in environment variables.

Logs & health

Watch the build log during deploy; after it’s live, tail your app’s logs from the panel or the web terminal. If the process crashes on boot, the deploy log shows why.

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