Deploy Express on Light Cloud - detected from package.json, run as a Node.js container on port 8080, scaling to zero when idle.
Deploy Express
Express is detected from your package.json and runs as a Node.js container on port 8080. No Dockerfile needed - one is generated on Node 22, installing with your lockfile's package manager.
Serve it#
Listen on the routed port - PORT is set to it:
const app = require('express')();
app.listen(process.env.PORT || 8080, () => {
console.log('up');
});
app.listen binds all interfaces by default - correct for containers. Log with console.log/console.error; both land in runtime logs.
Configuration and database#
Read environment variables from process.env at startup. For a database, set DATABASE_URL from the Credentials tab - pg, mysql2, Prisma, and Drizzle all take it. Connect lazily so cold starts stay short.
Scaling#
Defaults fit a typical I/O-bound API: concurrency 80, scale to zero when idle. Set min instances to 1 on production if the first request after quiet must be fast.