HF PanelNode.js apps
Run static React, Vue or Angular builds and Node.js server apps such as Next.js or Express on your domains.
The Node.js apps screen runs JavaScript apps on your domains: static React, Vue or Angular sites with client-side routing, or server apps that start automatically and restart if they crash.
Where: Control Panel › Software › Node.js apps
| Type | How it runs | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Static site | built once, served by the web server | React (Vite or Create React App), Vue, Angular, Svelte, Solid, Preact, Gatsby, Astro, SvelteKit with adapter-static, Next.js static export |
| Server app | keeps running as a service on its own port, behind the web server (SSR, APIs) | Next.js, Nuxt, Remix, React Router, SvelteKit, Astro SSR, Angular SSR, NestJS, Express, Fastify, Koa, Hono, Socket.IO |
Note: if the screen says Node.js isn't installed on this server yet, ask your hosting provider to install it. You also need at least one domain.
Create an app
- Upload your project (without
node_modules) to a folder in your home with the File Manager, SFTP or Git. - Under New app, enter the App name, for example
shop. - Choose the Domain. All visits to this domain go to the app.
- Enter the App folder — where
package.jsonis, for exampleweb/shop. - Click Detect from package.json. HF Panel reads
package.jsonand fills in the fields for the framework it finds; a message names the framework and any Node.js versionpackage.jsonasks for. Check the fields. - Choose the Node.js version and the Type.
- Click Create app.
- Click Build & deploy next to the app.
Build & deploy installs the dependencies, runs the build and puts the result live; a window shows every step. Do it again after each change.
App settings
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| App name | lowercase letters, numbers, - and _, up to 30 characters; cannot be changed later |
| Domain | a main domain (not a parked domain). Each domain can run one app. |
| App folder | a folder inside your home. A static site's folder must be inside web/. |
| Node.js | the Node.js versions installed on the server |
| Type | Static site or Server app |
| Install dependencies | npm install, npm ci (uses package-lock.json), yarn install, pnpm install or Nothing (already installed) |
| Build script (optional) | the script in package.json run before starting, for example build |
| Build folder | static sites: where the build ends up; found automatically (dist, build, out…) when empty |
| Start command | server apps: node, npm, npx, yarn or pnpm followed by plain words, for example npm start, node dist/main.js or node .output/server/index.mjs (up to 200 characters) |
| Mode | server apps: Production or Development |
| Environment variables (optional) | one NAME=value per line, available while building and running |
Environment variable names are upper-case letters, numbers and _ (up to 64 characters). Values cannot contain
quotes or backslashes and are at most 500 characters. You can set up to 30 variables; lines starting with # are
ignored.
Important:
PORT,HOSTandNODE_ENVare set for you. A server app must listen onprocess.env.PORT.
Manage apps
The apps table shows each app's type and mode, Domain, Folder (and start command), Node.js version and Status: Static, Running, Starting or stopped.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Build & deploy | installs, builds and puts the app live (a server app is restarted) |
| Restart / Stop / Start | controls a server app's service |
| Settings | opens the app's settings in the form below |
| Files | opens the app folder in the File Manager |
| Log file | opens the logs folder in the File Manager (server apps) |
| Remove app | removes the app after you confirm |
If a server app does not come up, the message points to its log, ~/logs/node-<app name>.log.
Removing an app keeps its files; the domain serves its website folder again.