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Deploy to DigitalOcean App Platform

Deploy WhatsApp Team Inbox to DigitalOcean App Platform with managed PostgreSQL and automatic scaling.

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TL;DR - Quick Deploy

1

Create App

DigitalOcean Apps → Create App → GitHub → Select repo
2

Configure Services

Deploy as Docker Compose OR separate backend + frontend services
3

Add PostgreSQL

Add Database → PostgreSQL 16 → Basic plan ($15/month)
4

Set Variables

Add WhatsApp credentials, JWT secrets, admin credentials
Total time: ~15 minutes | Cost: $32/month (app + database)

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Why DigitalOcean App Platform?

Simple Pricing

Predictable pricing starting at $12/month

Managed Database

Fully managed PostgreSQL with backups

Auto Scaling

Automatic horizontal and vertical scaling

Global CDN

Built-in CDN for static assets

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Prerequisites

DigitalOcean account (sign up at digitalocean.com)
GitHub account
WhatsApp Business API credentials
Credit card for DigitalOcean billing

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Deployment Options

Deploy entire stack as a single Docker app:
1

Fork Repository

Fork the WhatsApp Team Inbox repository
2

Create App

  1. Go to DigitalOcean Apps
  2. Click Create App
  3. Select GitHub as source
  4. Choose your forked repository
  5. Select branch: main
3

Configure as Docker App

Type: Docker ComposeDockerfile Path: docker-compose.ymlDigitalOcean will detect docker-compose.yml automatically
4

Add PostgreSQL Database

  1. Click Add Resource → Database
  2. Select PostgreSQL 16
  3. Choose plan:
    • Basic: $15/month (1GB RAM, 10GB storage)
    • Professional: $55/month (4GB RAM, 38GB storage)
5

Configure Environment Variables

Add required environment variables (see below)
6

Deploy

Click Create Resources to start deployment

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Option 2: Separate Services

Deploy frontend and backend as separate apps:
1

Create Backend App

  1. Create App → GitHub
  2. Select repository
  3. Type: Dockerfile
  4. Source Directory: /backend
  5. Dockerfile Path: backend/Dockerfile
  6. HTTP Port: 4000
2

Create Frontend App

  1. Create App → GitHub
  2. Select same repository
  3. Type: Node.js
  4. Source Directory: /web
  5. Build Command: npm run build
  6. Run Command: npm start
3

Create Database

  1. Go to Databases in DigitalOcean
  2. Create Database Cluster
  3. Select PostgreSQL 16
  4. Choose datacenter region
  5. Select plan size
4

Connect Database to App

  1. Open your backend app
  2. Go to Settings → App-Level Environment Variables
  3. Add DATABASE_URL with connection string from database

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Environment Variables

Configure in App Platform → Settings → Environment Variables:

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Backend Variables

# DigitalOcean provides this automatically if using managed database
DATABASE_URL=${db.DATABASE_URL}

WHATSAPP_API_URL=https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0
WHATSAPP_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_permanent_access_token
WHATSAPP_PHONE_NUMBER_ID=123456789012345
WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID=123456789012345
WHATSAPP_WEBHOOK_VERIFY_TOKEN=generate_random_token
Generate verify token:
openssl rand -hex 16

JWT_SECRET=generate_with_openssl_rand_hex_32
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET=generate_different_secret
JWT_EXPIRES_IN=7d
JWT_REFRESH_EXPIRES_IN=30d
Generate secrets:
openssl rand -hex 32

ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@yourcompany.com
ADMIN_PASSWORD=strong_password_here
ADMIN_FIRST_NAME=System
ADMIN_LAST_NAME=Administrator

NODE_ENV=production
PORT=4000
WS_PORT=4001
CORS_ORIGIN=${APP_URL}
${APP_URL} automatically resolves to your app’s URL

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Frontend Variables

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL=${backend.PUBLIC_URL}
NEXT_PUBLIC_WS_URL=wss://${backend.PUBLIC_URL}
DigitalOcean automatically replaces ${service.VARIABLE} with actual service values

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Database Setup

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Managed PostgreSQL

1

Create Database Cluster

  1. Go to Databases in DigitalOcean control panel
  2. Click Create Database Cluster
  3. Select PostgreSQL version 16
2

Choose Configuration

Basic Plan:
  • 1 GB RAM / 1 vCPU / 10 GB Disk: $15/month
  • 2 GB RAM / 1 vCPU / 25 GB Disk: $30/month
  • 4 GB RAM / 2 vCPU / 38 GB Disk: $55/month
Professional Plan (HA):
  • Automatic failover
  • Standby nodes
  • Higher performance
3

Select Region

Choose region closest to your users:
  • New York (NYC)
  • San Francisco (SFO)
  • Amsterdam (AMS)
  • Singapore (SGP)
  • London (LON)
4

Configure Security

  1. Enable Trusted Sources
  2. Add your App Platform app
  3. Optionally add your IP for database access
5

Create Database

  1. Database name: whatsapp_inbox
  2. Click Create Database Cluster

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Connection Pooling

Enable connection pooling for better performance:
1

Access Database Settings

Database → Settings → Connection Pools
2

Create Pool

  • Name: whatsapp-pool
  • Database: whatsapp_inbox
  • Mode: Transaction
  • Size: 25
3

Use Pool Connection String

Update DATABASE_URL to use pool connection string instead of direct connection

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Custom Domain

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Add Custom Domain

1

Access Domain Settings

App → Settings → Domains
2

Add Domain

Click Add Domain and enter:
  • Frontend: app.your-domain.com
  • Backend: api.your-domain.com
3

Configure DNS

Add CNAME records at your domain registrar:
Type: CNAME
Name: app
Value: your-app.ondigitalocean.app
TTL: 3600

Type: CNAME
Name: api
Value: your-api.ondigitalocean.app
TTL: 3600
4

Verify Domain

DigitalOcean will verify domain and issue SSL certificate automaticallyUsually takes 5-10 minutes
5

Update Environment Variables

Update CORS and frontend URLs to use custom domain:
# Backend
CORS_ORIGIN=https://app.your-domain.com

# Frontend
NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL=https://api.your-domain.com

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Monitoring

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Built-in Monitoring

DigitalOcean App Platform provides monitoring out of the box:

Metrics

  • CPU usage
  • Memory usage
  • Request count
  • Response time

Logs

  • Application logs
  • Build logs
  • Deploy logs
  • Real-time streaming

Alerts

  • Resource usage alerts
  • Deployment alerts
  • Custom metrics

Health Checks

  • HTTP health checks
  • Auto-restart on failure
  • Configurable intervals

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Configure Health Checks

1

Access Health Check Settings

App → Settings → Health Checks
2

Configure Backend Health Check

  • Path: /health
  • Port: 4000
  • Initial Delay: 30 seconds
  • Period: 10 seconds
  • Timeout: 5 seconds
  • Success Threshold: 1
  • Failure Threshold: 3
3

Configure Frontend Health Check

  • Path: /
  • Port: 3000
  • Initial Delay: 30 seconds

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Set Up Alerts

1

Create Alert Policy

App → Settings → Alerts
2

Configure Alerts

Enable alerts for:
  • ✅ Deployment failures
  • ✅ High CPU usage (>80%)
  • ✅ High memory usage (>90%)
  • ✅ Health check failures
  • ✅ Crash loop detected
3

Add Notification Channels

  • Email notifications
  • Slack webhook
  • PagerDuty integration

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Scaling

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Vertical Scaling

Upgrade resources for better performance:
1

Access Scaling Settings

App → Settings → Resources & Scaling
2

Choose Container Size

Basic:
  • 512 MB / 0.5 vCPU: $5/month
  • 1 GB / 1 vCPU: $12/month
  • 2 GB / 1 vCPU: $24/month
Professional:
  • 4 GB / 2 vCPU: $48/month
  • 8 GB / 4 vCPU: $96/month
3

Apply Changes

Click Save - App will redeploy with new resources

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Horizontal Scaling

Scale to multiple containers for high availability:
1

Enable Auto-Scaling

App → Settings → Auto Scaling
2

Configure Rules

  • Minimum Instances: 2
  • Maximum Instances: 10
  • CPU Threshold: 70%
  • Memory Threshold: 80%
3

Load Balancing

DigitalOcean automatically load balances across instances

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Backups

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Database Backups

Automatic backups are included:
Retention:
  • Daily backups: 7 days
  • Weekly backups: 4 weeks
  • Monthly backups: 3 months

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Manual Backup

1

Create Manual Backup

Database → Backups → Create Backup
2

Download Backup

Click on backup → Download
3

Restore from Backup

Database → Backups → Select backup → Restore

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Application Backups

Backup your application configuration: 
# Install doctl (DigitalOcean CLI)
brew install doctl  # macOS
snap install doctl  # Linux

# Authenticate
doctl auth init

# Export app spec
doctl apps spec get YOUR_APP_ID > app-spec.yaml

# Later, restore from spec
doctl apps create --spec app-spec.yaml

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CI/CD

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Automatic Deployments

App Platform automatically deploys on git push:
1

Configure Auto-Deploy

App → Settings → Source✅ Autodeploy - Enable auto-deploy on push to main
2

Push to GitHub

git add .
git commit -m "Update feature"
git push origin main
DigitalOcean detects push and deploys automatically
3

Monitor Deployment

Watch deployment progress in App Platform dashboard

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Deploy Specific Branch

1

Change Source Branch

App → Settings → Source → Branch
2

Select Branch

Choose branch to deploy:
  • main - Production
  • staging - Staging environment
  • develop - Development
3

Trigger Deployment

Click Force Rebuild and Deploy

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Cost Optimization

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Estimate Monthly Costs

Example small team setup:
ServiceSizeCost
Backend App1GB RAM$12/month
Frontend App512MB RAM$5/month
PostgreSQL1GB/10GB$15/month
Total$32/month

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Tips to Reduce Costs

Begin with Basic plans and upgrade when needed based on metrics
Reduce database costs by using connection pooling instead of multiple connections
  • Use multi-stage builds
  • Remove unused dependencies
  • Use Alpine base images
Use DigitalOcean’s built-in CDN for static assets to reduce bandwidth costs
Adjust backup frequency based on your data change rate

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Troubleshooting

Common causes:
  • Dockerfile errors
  • Missing dependencies
  • Build timeout
Solutions:
  1. Check build logs in deployment history
  2. Test Docker build locally: docker build -f backend/Dockerfile .
  3. Verify all dependencies in package.json
  4. Increase build timeout in settings
Causes:
  • Trusted sources not configured
  • DATABASE_URL incorrect
  • Connection limit reached
Solutions:
  1. Add app to database trusted sources
  2. Verify DATABASE_URL in environment variables
  3. Enable connection pooling
  4. Check database logs for errors
Causes:
  • Insufficient memory
  • Application error
  • Missing environment variables
Solutions:
  1. Check runtime logs for errors
  2. Increase container size
  3. Verify all required env vars are set
  4. Test locally with same environment
Causes:
  • Undersized resources
  • Database not optimized
  • No CDN for assets
Solutions:
  1. Monitor metrics and scale up if needed
  2. Add database indexes
  3. Enable CDN for static assets
  4. Use connection pooling

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Production Checklist

All environment variables configured
Database backups enabled
Health checks configured
Custom domain added
SSL certificates active
Monitoring and alerts set up
Auto-scaling configured
WhatsApp webhook tested
Connection pooling enabled
CDN enabled for static assets

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DigitalOcean CLI

For advanced users, use doctl:

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Installation

# macOS
brew install doctl

# Linux
snap install doctl

# Windows
scoop install doctl

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Common Commands

# Authenticate
doctl auth init

# List apps
doctl apps list

# Get app info
doctl apps get YOUR_APP_ID

# View logs
doctl apps logs YOUR_APP_ID --follow

# Create deployment
doctl apps create-deployment YOUR_APP_ID

# List databases
doctl databases list

# Database connection info
doctl databases connection YOUR_DB_ID

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Migration from Other Platforms

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From Heroku

1

Export Heroku Data

# Export database
heroku pg:backups:capture -a your-app
heroku pg:backups:download -a your-app

# Export environment variables
heroku config -a your-app > heroku-config.txt
2

Import to DigitalOcean

  1. Create DigitalOcean database
  2. Restore backup: 
    pg_restore -d DATABASE_URL latest.dump
  3. Copy environment variables to App Platform
3

Update DNS

Point your domain to DigitalOcean:
CNAME: your-app.ondigitalocean.app

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Next Steps

WhatsApp Setup

Configure WhatsApp Business API

Environment Variables

Complete environment reference

Going Live

Production deployment checklist

Monitoring

Set up monitoring and alerts

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Resources