A Shipfile is a simple YAML configuration file that automates your application deployment. It specifies setup commands and runtime instructions for your app.

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Basic Structure

script: <pre-run commands>
run: <entrypoint command>

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Key Commands

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script (Pre-run Commands)

  • Runs before your main application starts

  • Use for dependencies, migrations, or setup

  • Supports single or multi-line commands

  1. Single-line:
script: python manage.py migrate
  1. Multi-line:
script: |
  pip install -r requirements.txt
  alembic upgrade head

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run (Entrypoint)

  • Mandatory command to start your application, for example:
run: python main.py
The run command is always one line.

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Important Notes For Webservers

  • Since the applications will run in their own isolated environment, you need to specify the HOST and PORT

  • The HOST must be 0.0.0.0

  • Ports will be auto-detected from any of these patterns:

--port=8000 / --port 8000

-p=8000 / -p 8000

:8000

PORT=8000
  • Default port: 8000 if none detected

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Some Examples:

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FastAPI

script: |
  pip install -r requirements.txt
  alembic upgrade head
run: uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

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Django

script: |
  python manage.py makemigrations
  python manage.py migrate
run: gunicorn myproject.wsgi:application --bind 0.0.0.0:8000

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Node.js

script: npm install
run: node server.js --port 3000
More examples are available in the examples section