Zero-downtime Docker deployments with automatic HTTPS. Build locally, deploy to your servers.

npm install -g lightform-cli
lightform init
lightform       # Deploys with automatic setup - that's it!

# lightform.yml
name: my-app

ssh:
  username: lightform

apps:
  web:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    server: your-server.com
    proxy:
      app_port: 3000
      # hosts:
      #   - myapp.com #- optional, auto-generated if not provided
    environment:
      secret:
        - DATABASE_URL

❯ lightform
[✓] Ensuring infrastructure is ready (1.2s)
[✓] Building Images (1.8s)
[✓] Zero-downtime deployment of web (3.5s)
[✓] Deployment completed successfully in 9.8s

https://a1b2c3d4-web-lightform-192-168-1-100.app.lightform.dev

Own your infrastructure without the complexity. Deploy any Docker app to your servers with zero configuration.

vs Kamal:

• TypeScript/Bun instead of Ruby
• No Docker registry required - build locally, transfer directly
• Automatic fresh server setup and security hardening
• Instant domains with no DNS configuration needed

vs Vercel/Netlify:

• Your own servers - full control, no vendor lock-in
• Any Docker app - not limited to specific frameworks
• No cold starts - containers always running
• Cost-effective - pay only for your servers

vs Docker Compose:

• Zero-downtime deployments - Compose restarts cause downtime
• Multi-server support - deploy across multiple machines
• Automatic SSL certificates and reverse proxy
• Git-based releases with rollback capabilities

• Zero-downtime deployments: Blue-green deployment with automatic health checks and rollbacks
• Registry-free: Build locally, transfer via SSH (no Docker registry setup needed)
• Auto-SSL: Let's Encrypt certificates with automatic domain provisioning
• Server bootstrap: Fresh Ubuntu/Debian servers configured automatically with security hardening
• Multi-server: Deploy across multiple machines with automatic load balancing
• Git-based releases: Each deployment tagged with Git SHA for easy rollbacks
• Secure by default: Fail2Ban, automatic updates, SSH hardening, dedicated users

name: my-app

ssh:
  username: lightform

apps:
  web:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    server: your-server.com
    proxy:
      hosts:
        - myapp.com #- optional, auto-generated if not provided
      app_port: 3000
    environment:
      secret:
        - DATABASE_URL

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:15
    server: your-server.com
    environment:
      secret:
        - POSTGRES_PASSWORD
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

Secrets in .lightform/secrets:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/myapp
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=supersecret

lightform init                    # Create lightform.yml and .lightform/secrets
lightform                         # Deploy all apps (auto-setup included)
lightform web                     # Deploy specific app
lightform --services              # Deploy services only
lightform --verbose               # Deploy with detailed output
lightform status                  # Check deployment status
lightform proxy status            # Check proxy status on all servers
lightform proxy update            # Update proxy to latest version
lightform proxy delete-host --host api.example.com  # Remove host from proxy
lightform proxy logs --lines 100  # Show proxy logs (default: 50 lines)

Note: Infrastructure setup is automatic. Fresh servers are detected and configured automatically during deployment.

Simple app:

name: blog

ssh:
  username: lightform

apps:
  web:
    build:
      context: .
    server: your-server.com
    proxy:
      app_port: 3000
    environment:
      secret:
        - DATABASE_URL

Monorepo with multiple apps:

# Repository structure:
# /
# ├── lightform.yml
# ├── frontend/
# │   └── Dockerfile
# ├── backend/
# │   └── Dockerfile
# └── mobile-api/
#     └── Dockerfile

name: ecommerce

ssh:
  username: lightform

apps:
  frontend:
    build:
      context: ./frontend # Build context: ./frontend directory
      dockerfile: ./frontend/Dockerfile # Dockerfile path from project root
    server: web-server.com
    proxy:
      hosts:
        - shop.com
      app_port: 3000

  backend:
    build:
      context: ./backend # Build context: ./backend directory
      dockerfile: ./backend/Dockerfile # Dockerfile path from project root
    server: api-server.com
    proxy:
      hosts:
        - api.shop.com
      app_port: 8080
    environment:
      secret:
        - DATABASE_URL
        - JWT_SECRET

  mobile-api:
    build:
      context: ./mobile-api # Build context: ./mobile-api directory
      dockerfile: ./mobile-api/Dockerfile # Dockerfile path from project root
    server: api-server.com
    proxy:
      app_port: 5000
    environment:
      secret:
        - DATABASE_URL

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:15
    server: db-server.com
    environment:
      secret:
        - POSTGRES_PASSWORD
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

Multi-environment:

lightform deploy -c lightform.staging.yml
lightform deploy -c lightform.production.yml

• Registry-free deployment: Build Docker images locally, transfer via SSH, deploy with zero downtime
• Smart server setup: Detects fresh servers and automatically installs Docker, hardens SSH, sets up users
• Blue-green deployment: New version deployed alongside current, health checked, then traffic switched atomically
• Automatic HTTPS: Provisions SSL certificates and domains automatically (or use your own)
• Intelligent infrastructure: Setup happens automatically during deployment - no separate commands needed

• Local: Bun or Node.js 18+
• Servers: Ubuntu/Debian with SSH access (root for fresh servers)
• Ports: 80, 443 open

Fresh servers only need root SSH access - Lightform handles the rest automatically.

git clone https://github.com/elitan/lightform
cd lightform && bun install && bun run dev

MIT License - Made for developers who want simple, reliable deployments on their own infrastructure.