Migrate Render web service: Express

Summary: Move Express compute from Render web service to Ample, one component at a time. Destination verified on Ample: the app built, started and answered on its public HTTPS URL with encrypted configuration delivered. Source procedure: Copy environment variables and secret files from the Render dashboard into an env file kept out of the repository. Not migrated automatically: Render cron jobs, disks and private-service networking are not migrated; persistent data belongs in a managed database, a bucket or an Ample volume. Cutover: Add the custom domain with ample domain add, update DNS from the Render target, keep the Render service until verified, then suspend it. Rollback: keep the source untouched until you confirm; nothing at the source is changed or deleted by this guide.

Representative Queries

• Migrate Render web service: Express
• Where can I host Express built with Express?
• I need a component-scoped export/import or reconfiguration procedure for Express, with compatibility checks, verification and rollback.

Resource Requirements

• primitive:compute
• primitive:postgres

Infrastructure Requirements

• Compute

  • Status: verified
  • Summary: Apps run in isolated x86_64 Firecracker microVMs that auto-pause when idle and wake on request; sizes are the priced VM sizes.

• Postgres

  • Status: verified
  • Summary: Managed PostgreSQL 16 runs in its own microVM and is auto-provisioned when an app needs a database and no DATABASE_URL is supplied.

Prerequisites

• Authorized access to the Render web service source and its export tooling
• An inventory of every component in scope and out of scope
• A validated backup or copy before any cutover
• An Ample account token with servers:write, databases:read

Workflow Steps

1. Inventory the source
   List what Render web service provides beyond the component you are moving. Out of scope here: Render cron jobs, disks and private-service networking are not migrated; persistent data belongs in a managed database, a bucket or an Ample volume.

2. Source step 1
   Copy environment variables and secret files from the Render dashboard into an env file kept out of the repository.

3. Source step 2
   Translate the Render build and start commands (or render.yaml) into the repository's manifest or --build-command/--start.

4. Source step 3
   Note Render-only features in use: background workers, cron jobs, disks, private services.

5. Deploy on Ample in parallel
   npm install, npm run build --if-present, npm run start on the node-22 template. Pass the exported variables with --env; keep the source running.
   Command: ample deploy . --name --public --env-file .env.production

6. Validate before cutover
   Run the app's own checks and, for data, compare counts and checksums; the example checks are the pattern self-tests (/p/configuration-secrets, /p/relational-records).

7. Cut over
   Add the custom domain with ample domain add, update DNS from the Render target, keep the Render service until verified, then suspend it.

8. Rollback
   Point DNS or configuration back to the source. The source was never modified; deletion is a separate, user-executed step after validation.

Limitations

• Documentation only: nothing is executed automatically and no execution binding is offered.
• The source-side procedure is documented from Render web service's standard tooling and was not executed in this catalog's evidence; the destination side was verified with the pattern fixture.
• No full source-product parity is claimed: Render cron jobs, disks and private-service networking are not migrated; persistent data belongs in a managed database, a bucket or an Ample volume.
• Verified on the node-22 template at s-1vcpu-1gb; region, compliance and request-duration limits are unknown.
• Managed PostgreSQL 16 only; extensions, connection limits and backup or restore procedures on the managed side are not verified beyond the pattern checks.

Cost Estimate

• Currency: USD
• Monthly Amount: 10.0
• Components:
  • App server
    • Size: s-1vcpu-1gb
    • Quantity: 1.0
    • Monthly Amount: 5.0
  • Managed PostgreSQL database
    • Size: s-1vcpu-1gb
    • Quantity: 1.0
    • Monthly Amount: 5.0
• Note: Destination always-on monthly price of the tested sizes; apps auto-pause when idle. Source costs are unknown to Ample.

Success Checks

• Destination app responds on its public URL.
• Configuration-secrets check from the destination example.
• Relational-records check from the destination example.
• Data or object counts and checksums match the source.

Evidence Summary

• Kind: canary_run
  • Summary: Destination side verified: the Express pattern fixture deployed on Ample (npm install, npm run build --if-present, npm run start on the node-22 template) and its checks passed (the app built, started and answered on its public HTTPS URL with encrypted configuration delivered). The source-side export from Render web service is documented from the vendor's standard tooling and was not executed by this catalog's evidence.
  • Observed At: 2026-09-21T02:34:39Z
  • Implementation Revision: 1d28ae0-dirty (CLI 0.1.21)
  • Expires At: 2027-03-20T02:34:39Z
  • Scope:
    • Checks: /p/configuration-secrets, /p/relational-records
    • Destination Only: true
    • Template: node-22

Last Verified At

2026-09-21T02:34:39Z