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This guide walks you through deploying your first application to Orchard. By the end, you’ll have a running container accessible via the internet.

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Prerequisites

  • An invitation to an Orchard organization (Orchard is currently in closed beta)
  • A Docker image to deploy, or a GitHub repository with a Dockerfile

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Step 1: Accept Your Organization Invitation

Orchard is currently in closed beta. To get started, you need to be invited to an organization.
1

Check your email

Look for an invitation email from Orchard with a link to join an organization.
2

Click the invitation link

Click Accept Invitation in the email to join the organization.
3

Sign in or create account

If you don’t have an Orchard account yet, you’ll be prompted to create one using email OTP, passkey, or Hack Club OAuth.
Don’t have an invitation? Contact the Hack Club team to request access to the closed beta.

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Step 2: Create a Workspace

Workspaces help you organize projects. You might create separate workspaces for production and staging, or for different teams.
1

Open your organization

Click on your newly created organization from the dashboard.
2

Create a workspace

Click New Workspace and enter a name (e.g., “production” or “development”).

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Step 3: Create a Project

Projects are where your deployments live. Each project gets its own Kubernetes namespace for isolation.
1

Open your workspace

Click on the workspace you just created.
2

Create a project

Click New Project and provide a name for your project.

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Step 4: Deploy Your Application

You can deploy from a Docker image or directly from a GitHub repository.
1

Create a new deployment

In your project, click New Deployment.
2

Select 'From Image'

Choose the From Image option.
3

Configure your deployment

  • Name: A unique name for this deployment
  • Image: The Docker image to deploy (e.g., nginx:latest)
  • Port: The port your application listens on (e.g., 80)
  • Replicas: Number of instances to run (default: 1)
4

Deploy

Click Create Deployment to start your application.

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Step 5: Expose Your Application

To make your application accessible from the internet, you need to create a service and optionally an ingress.
1

Create a service

In your deployment’s Networking tab, click Add Service. Choose External to expose it publicly.
2

(Optional) Add a custom domain

To use your own domain, create an Ingress and configure your DNS to point to the cluster.

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What’s Next?

Environment Variables

Configure your application with environment variables

Custom Domains

Set up custom domains with automatic HTTPS

Persistent Storage

Add persistent volumes for databases and file storage

Team Collaboration

Invite your team members to collaborate