Host rest api with Express: Postgres-backed state

Summary

Deploy an Express REST API whose durable state lives in a managed PostgreSQL 16 database. With no DATABASE_URL supplied, Ample provisions the database and injects the connection string as an encrypted environment variable; the API stores rows with pg and serves them from a public HTTPS URL.

Infrastructure requirements

Prerequisites

• A package.json with a start script that listens on process.env.PORT (default 3000) and 0.0.0.0
• The pg driver (or another PostgreSQL client) reading process.env.DATABASE_URL
• Tables created by the app or by a --release-command migration, not assumed to exist
• An Ample account token with servers:write and databases:read

Exact tested configuration

• template: node-22
• runtime: node
• size: s-1vcpu-1gb
• install: npm install
• build: npm run build --if-present
• start: npm run start

Steps

1. Check the start script. Ample runs npm install, npm run build --if-present and npm run start on the node-22 template. The server must bind 0.0.0.0 and read PORT.

2. Read DATABASE_URL at runtime. Create a pg Pool from process.env.DATABASE_URL. Do not hard-code localhost credentials; a local .env is replaced by the managed database in production.

3. Deploy. Run the existing synchronous deploy once from the project directory and read the result. Exit 0 is live, 1 is failed, 2 is blocked on a required preflight action. Re-running with no change is a content-addressed no-op.

   ample deploy . --name <app-name> --public --format json
   

4. Verify. Fetch the live URL and run the success checks below. On failure read the build log, then the runtime log, fix the cause and deploy again; do not blind-retry.

   ample logs <deployment_id> --kind build
   

Tested examples

• Express + pg canary (tests/deploy-canaries/express-postgres-api): Express API with POST /items and GET /items backed by an auto-provisioned managed PostgreSQL database.

Success checks

• root route responds (/ on the live URL, expect ample canary express postgres api)
• database insert and count succeed (/items on the live URL, expect postgres=ok)

Limitations

• Verified on the node-22 template at s-1vcpu-1gb; other templates and sizes are not verified by this recipe.
• Region, compliance attestations and request-duration limits are unknown and not claimed.
• Apps auto-pause when idle and wake on the next request; always-on is an operator setting, not a plan feature.
• Managed PostgreSQL 16 only; extensions, connection limits and backup or restore procedures are not verified.
• Apps and their managed databases are placed together; cross-node shared databases are unsupported.

Cost estimate

Estimated 10.00 USD per month (size prices from pricing.toml at build revision a1b8c38919e59cd035ebabaced73cf84ece24371).

• app server x1 s-1vcpu-1gb: 5.00 USD
• managed PostgreSQL database x1 s-1vcpu-1gb: 5.00 USD

Apps and managed databases auto-pause when idle; the estimate is the always-on monthly price of the tested sizes. Plan quotas and budgets apply.

Verification evidence

• canary_run on 2026-09-19T23:55:33Z at revision 1764076-tls-account-903d345: Express REST API using pg with no DATABASE_URL supplied: Ample auto-provisioned a managed PostgreSQL 16 database, injected the connection string, and /items reported postgres=ok after a real insert and count. (expires 2027-03-18T23:55:33Z)
• canary_run on 2026-09-19T23:55:33Z at revision 1764076-tls-account-903d345: Node app needing PostgreSQL with no DATABASE_URL: a managed database was auto-provisioned and /db reported postgres=ok. (expires 2027-03-18T23:55:33Z)
• canary_run on 2026-09-19T23:55:33Z at revision 1764076-tls-account-903d345: Express app with npm install and npm run start deployed on the node-22 template; the public URL served the expected response. (expires 2027-03-18T23:55:33Z)
• live_deployment on 2026-09-20T00:48:10Z at revision 199ff1dfd52683832ae75d3f98b53a7a4bff7f96-dirty (CLI e3181f5): Authorized end-to-end run through the catalog: public search, verified contract, side-effect-free plan (ready_for_approval with a signed plan token), operator approval, handoff to ample_deploy, live URL, and the recipe's success checks passed. (expires 2027-03-19T00:48:10Z)

Last verified: 2026-09-19T23:55:33Z

Execution binding

MCP tool ample_deploy (registry mcp:ample_deploy), schema hash 876465fce906da0c observed 2026-09-20T01:55:48.667900+00:00 at revision 199ff1dfd526, binding state current, required scopes: servers:write, databases:read.