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Pxxl has two main deployment targets: Web Service and Static Apps. The target controls whether Pxxl starts a runtime container or publishes files to the edge.

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Web Service

A Web Service is a running application that handles HTTP requests. Use it for APIs, server-rendered applications, dashboards, and anything that needs code running after the build finishes.
  • Pxxl builds an image or runtime artifact.
  • The application runs as a container.
  • The service must listen on $PORT and bind to 0.0.0.0.
  • Pxxl checks the service before publishing the public route.
  • Environment variables are available to the build and the running service.
Common examples include Express, NestJS, Fastify, Hono, Next.js, Django, FastAPI, Rails, Go, Java, PHP, and Rust services.

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Static Apps

A Static App is a collection of files. Nothing needs to keep running after the files are published. Use it for plain HTML, frontend builds, documentation sites, and other projects that can be served from generated files.
  • Pxxl publishes the files to its R2-backed static release storage.
  • The public route points to that immutable release.
  • No runtime container, start command, port, or health check is needed.
  • Older releases can be cleaned up after the new release is live.
Plain static Git sources must contain index.html or index.htm in the selected base directory. PHP projects use the PHP runtime instead of the Static App target. Build-backed static stacks such as Vite, React, Vue, Astro, Angular, Gatsby, and Flutter publish the output directory created by the build plan.

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How Pxxl chooses the target

The current Deploy flow does not require a separate type picker for every source. Pxxl uses the repository analysis and build plan to choose the target, then shows the detected settings during review. If the detected target is not right, change the build commands or source setup before submitting. The final target is recorded with the deployment.

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Quick check

Choose Web Service when a process must stay alive and answer requests. Choose Static Apps when the result is only files.