Skip to main content

Note

Before you start, check out the Upsun demo app and the main Getting started guide. They provide all of the core concepts and common commands you need to know before using the materials below.

​
1. Create a Strapi project

To create your Strapi app, follow these steps.
  1. Follow the Strapi installation guide.
    To fast track the process, run the following commands:
    Terminal
    npx create-strapi-app@latest my-strapi-project --quickstart --no-run
    If the create-strapi-app script fails, run export SHARP_IGNORE_GLOBAL_LIBVIPS=true, remove the previous attempt (rm -rf my-strapi-project), and run the command again.
  2. To initialize the local Git repository and commit local files, run the following commands:
    Terminal
    cd my-strapi-project
echo "\nhttp:" >> .gitignore
git add .
git commit -m "Init Strapi application."
    You can view the running app locally by running yarn develop. The local server will be visible at localhost:1337. You can create your first administrator user locally, but you will have to recreate that user once you’ve deployed to Upsun.

​
2. Create a new project

To create a project on Upsun, follow these steps.

Remember

After creating your Upsun project, copy your new project ID for later use.
To create a new project with the Upsun CLI, use the following command and follow the prompts:
Terminal
upsun project:create
When creating a new project using the Upsun CLI command project:create, you are asked if you want to set the local remote to your new project. Enter Yes (y).Your local source code is automatically linked to your newly created Upsun project through the creation of a .upsun/local/project.yaml. This file contains the corresponding <projectId> for the Upsun CLI to use, and sets a Git remote to upsun.

​
3. Choose your Git workflow

You can use Upsun projects as a classic Git repository, where you are able to push your source code in different ways, using either the Git CLI or the Upsun CLI. You can choose which way —or Git workflow— you want to use for your project from the following options:
  • Your project source code is hosted on an Upsun Git repository
  • Your project source code is hosted on your own GitHub repository
For the rest of this guide, you will use the normal Git workflow (git add . && git commit -m "message" && git push upsun) to commit your source code changes to Git history. You will also use the Upsun CLI to deploy your Upsun environment with the latest code updates.

​
4. Configure your project

To host your Strapi application on Upsun, you need to have a few YAML configuration files at the root of your project. These files manage your app’s behavior. They are located in a .upsun/ folder at the root of your source code and structured in a similar way to this: 
my-strapi-project
├── .upsun
│   └── config.yaml
├── [.environment]
└── <project sources>
To generate these files, run the following command at the root of your project: 
upsun project:init
Follow the prompts. To commit your new files, run the following commands:
Terminal
git add .
git commit -m "Add Upsun config files"

​
5. Deploy

And just like that, it’s time to deploy! Depending on the Git workflow you chose at the beginning of this tutorial, there are two ways to deploy your source code changes.
You can push your code using the normal Git workflow (git add . && git commit -m "message" && git push). This pushes your source code changes to your upsun remote repository. Alternatively, you can use the following Upsun CLI command:
Terminal
upsun push
Upsun then reads your configuration files, and deploys your project using default container resources. If you don’t want to use those default resources, define your own resource initialization strategy, or amend those default container resources after your project is deployed. Et voilà, your Strapi application is live!

Tip

Each environment has its own domain name. To open the URL of your new environment, run the following command:
Terminal
upsun environment:url --primary

​
6. Make changes to your project

Now that your project is deployed, you can start making changes to it. For example, you might want to fix a bug or add a new feature. In your project, the main branch always represents the production environment. Other branches are for developing new features, fixing bugs, or updating the infrastructure. To make changes to your project, follow these steps:
  1. Create a new environment (a Git branch) to make changes without impacting production:
    Terminal
    upsun branch feat-a
    This command creates a new local feat-a Git branch based on the main Git branch, and activates a related environment on Upsun. The new environment inherits the data (service data and assets) of its parent environment (the production environment here).
  2. Make changes to your project.
    For example, you can create a new API and Collection (Content Type). To do so, run the following command:
    Terminal
    npm run strapi -- generate content-type
    Then follow the prompts to set up the Blog API containing an Article Content Type (Collection): 
    ? Content type display name Article
? Content type singular name article
? Content type plural name articles
? Please choose the model type Collection Type
? Use draft and publish? Yes
? Do you want to add attributes? Yes
? Name of attribute title
? What type of attribute string
? Do you want to add another attribute? Yes
? Name of attribute body
? What type of attribute richtext
? Do you want to add another attribute? Yes
? Name of attribute image
? What type of attribute media
? Choose media type Single
? Do you want to add another attribute? No
? Where do you want to add this model? Add model to new API
? Name of the new API? blog
? Bootstrap API related files? Yes
✔  ++ /api/blog/content-types/article/schema.json
✔  +- /api/blog/content-types/article/schema.json
✔  ++ /api/blog/controllers/article.js
✔  ++ /api/blog/services/article.js
✔  ++ /api/blog/routes/article.js
    Verify that the new Article collection has been created. To do so, run the local server (yarn develop) again, and visit http://localhost:1337/admin/content-manager. This results in the following changes: 
    $ git status
On branch feat-a
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
    modified:   types/generated/contentTypes.d.ts

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
    src/api/blog/

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")
  3. Commit your changes:
    Terminal
    git add .
git commit -m "Add Article collection"
  4. Deploy your changes to the feat-a environment:
    Terminal
    upsun push
    Note that each environment has its own domain name. To open the URL of your new environment, run the following command:
    Terminal
    upsun environment:url --primary
  5. Iterate by changing the code, committing, and deploying.
    When satisfied with your changes, merge them to the main branch, and remove the feature branch:
    Terminal
    upsun merge
    Are you sure you want to merge feat-a into its parent, main? [Y/n] y
upsun checkout main
git pull upsun main
upsun environment:delete feat-a
git fetch --prune
    Note that deploying to production is fast because the image built for the feat-a environment is reused. For a long running branch, to keep the code up-to-date with the main branch, use git merge main or git rebase main. You can also keep the data in sync with the production environment by using upsun env:sync.

​
Further resources

​
Documentation

​
Community content

​
Blogs

Last modified on March 11, 2026