DigitalOcean App Platform Deployment

This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough to deploy your Astro Wiki on the DigitalOcean App Platform as a dynamic Node.js web service.

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Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

1. A GitHub repository containing the wiki code (e.g., akketix/aihelp).
2. A DigitalOcean account.
3. A custom domain (e.g., mneurix.dev) managed by Namecheap, Cloudflare, or GoDaddy.

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Step 1: Astro Configuration

To support backend API routes (like the on-site editor /api/submit-edit), the wiki must run as a dynamic Node.js server rather than a purely static build.

In your astro.config.mjs, verify the @astrojs/node adapter is configured:

import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';
import starlight from '@astrojs/starlight';
import node from '@astrojs/node';

export default defineConfig({
  output: 'server',
  adapter: node({
    mode: 'standalone',
  }),
  integrations: [
    starlight({
      title: 'AI Help Wiki',
      // ...
    }),
  ],
});

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Step 2: Write the App Specification

Create a file named app-spec.json at the root of your repository to programmatically configure the App Platform deployment:

{
  "name": "mneurix-wiki",
  "region": "fra",
  "domains": [
    {
      "domain": "aihelp.mneurix.dev",
      "type": "PRIMARY"
    }
  ],
  "features": [
    "buildpack-stack=ubuntu-22"
  ],
  "ingress": {
    "rules": [
      {
        "component": { "name": "wiki" },
        "match": { "path": { "prefix": "/" } }
      }
    ]
  },
  "services": [
    {
      "name": "wiki",
      "github": {
        "repo": "akketix/aihelp",
        "branch": "master",
        "deploy_on_push": true
      },
      "build_command": "npm install && npm run build",
      "run_command": "node dist/server/entry.mjs",
      "environment_slug": "node-js",
      "envs": [
        {
          "key": "PORT",
          "scope": "RUN_AND_BUILD_TIME",
          "value": "8080"
        },
        {
          "key": "HOST",
          "scope": "RUN_AND_BUILD_TIME",
          "value": "0.0.0.0"
        }
      ],
      "http_port": 8080,
      "instance_count": 1,
      "instance_size_slug": "basic-xxs"
    }
  ]
}

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Step 3: Launch on DigitalOcean

Using the doctl command-line utility or the DigitalOcean API, submit the app specification to spin up the service:

doctl apps create --spec app-spec.json

DigitalOcean will:

1. Connect to GitHub using OAuth.
2. Clone your repository.
3. Build the node container (installs node modules and executes npm run build).
4. Start the server on port 8080.
5. Allocate a default subdomain (e.g., mneurix-wiki-8nfsu.ondigitalocean.app).

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Step 4: Configure DNS Routing

To bind your custom subdomain aihelp.mneurix.dev:

1. Copy the default app domain allocated by DigitalOcean (e.g., mneurix-wiki-8nfsu.ondigitalocean.app).
2. Log into your domain registrar (e.g., Namecheap or Cloudflare DNS settings).
3. Add a new CNAME record:
   • Type: CNAME
   • Host: aihelp
   • Target / Value: mneurix-wiki-8nfsu.ondigitalocean.app
   • TTL: Automatic

Once DNS propagates, DigitalOcean will verify the record, auto-provision an SSL certificate, and serve the wiki at https://aihelp.mneurix.dev.