Deployment

Deployment Overview

Open Astra can be deployed on any Linux host with Docker or Node.js. This section covers platform-specific guides for DigitalOcean, AWS, and GCP, plus a generic Docker Compose setup for self-hosted environments.

Deployment options

PlatformBest forManaged DB
DigitalOceanSimplest setup, small–medium teamsManaged PostgreSQL with pgvector
AWSEnterprise, existing AWS infrastructureRDS PostgreSQL + Aurora
GCPTeams using Google Cloud or Vertex AICloud SQL for PostgreSQL
DockerOn-prem, airgapped, full controlSelf-managed PostgreSQL

Prerequisites

All deployment targets require the same infrastructure:

  • PostgreSQL 14+ with the pgvector extension installed
  • Node.js 18+ or Docker 24+ on the host
  • Environment variables configured — at minimum DATABASE_URL and at least one LLM provider API key
  • Typesense (optional) — required for hybrid search; falls back to pgvector-only if absent

Production architecture

A typical production deployment runs three services:

text
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Reverse proxy (nginx / Caddy / cloud LB)       │
└───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────┘
                        │
              ┌─────────▼──────────┐
              │  Open Astra gateway │
              │  (Node.js / Docker) │
              └────┬─────────┬─────┘
                   │         │
      ┌────────────▼─┐  ┌────▼──────────┐
      │  PostgreSQL  │  │   Typesense   │
      │  + pgvector  │  │  (optional)   │
      └──────────────┘  └───────────────┘

Database migrations

Open Astra uses Drizzle ORM for schema management. Run migrations before starting the gateway on a new database or after upgrading:

bash
npx drizzle-kit migrate

See Database Migrations for rollback procedures and multi-tenant migration strategies.

Next steps