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Deploy from an Existing Repository

Press Pull from repo and Continue.

Options to create a new Atlas app including “Start with Blueprint” or “Pull from repo”

Now that you have chosen to deploy from an existing repository, you can select the repository and deploy it to Atlas. Pushing code changes to the branch of your choice in your repository will then deploy updates to Atlas automatically.

Prepare Your App for Deployment

Atlas supports Node.js applications using many popular frameworks with minimal configuration. You can view our framework guides to see what may be required of your particular framework:

Some newer frameworks may not have a framework guide yet, but can still run on the Atlas platform using whatever Node.js-based adapters are provided by the framework or as SSG using a Node.js package to serve static assets like http-server or express.

Custom build and start commands

By default, the Atlas platform will run npm run build and npm run start to build and start your application. If you want to run different commands to build or start your application, you can reference the docs on custom build commands or custom start commands to review the various ways this can be implemented.

Using the correct port

The platform expects your application to listen for traffic on one of the following ports: 8080(default) or 3000. You may receive an error during deployment if your application is using a different port value. In some frameworks, you may be able to use an environment variable named PORT to specify which port you application will listen on.

Connect to a Supported Repository Provider

Atlas supports three repository hosting service providers - GitHub, Bitbucket and GitLab. Connect to your repository provider, then choose the account/ namespace, in order to find the repository you wish to deploy on Atlas.

  1. In the Connect to repository section, select Connect under the provider you want to connect with.

  2. GitHub, Bitbucket or GitLab opens in another tab of your web browser. Give WP Engine permission to access your repositories.

After Atlas connects to your account, the Connected label with green checkmark indicates that you are connected. A list of repositories associated with your account appears.

Connected to provider

Select the Repository

Now that you are connected to the provider of your choice, it’s time to connect your repository.

  1. From the list of repositories, select the one with your application’s code.

    If you have selected GitHub as your provider but don’t see the repository which you’d like to use, click on “Manage GitHub repositories” or “Add GitHub repository” (if no GitHub repositories visible yet) button presented, as the account where the repository resides is not visible yet to Portal (this is a GitHub only feature at present):

    Connected to GitHub

  2. Select Continue to proceed to the WP Engine Settings page.

Set your Application Settings

On the WP Engine Settings screen:

  1. Fill out a name for your application. We recommend choosing a name similar to your repository’s name. The application name cannot be changed once it has been deployed.

  2. Select a region for your application. The region you select will be used for all of your app’s environments (production/staging/etc.) and cannot be changed once your Atlas application has been deployed.

  3. Click Continue.

Choose a name and region

Configure the Environment

Select a Branch

From the list of your repository’s branches, select the branch you want to base your environment on. Whenever changes are pushed to this branch, your app will be automatically re-deployed.

Examples:

  • If you want to create a production environment, you could use your repo’s main branch
  • If you want to create a staging environment, you could use your repository’s staging branch

Select a branch

Verify Your Project Directory

If your project is stored in a folder within your repository, specify the path to your root folder by clicking on the Edit icon in the Root Directory field.

Select the subfolder

Name Your Environment

Enter a name for your Atlas environment. The name should represent how you intend to use the environment. For example, enter something like prod if it’s a production environment, staging if it’s a staging environment, etc.

Connect WordPress Environment

Every headless environment is associated with a WordPress environment. Choose either:

  • I already have a WordPress environment: Use a WordPress site from your WP Engine account. Select the search bar and search for the name of your WordPress site.
  • I want to create a new WordPress install: WP Engine makes a new WordPress site and links it to your application. In the box, enter a name for your new WordPress site.

Link to WordPress

Install Headless Plugins

In order for your WordPress environment to become “headless”, Atlas can install the WPGraphQL, Faust.js and WP Engine Atlas Headless Extension plugins.

Install Headless Plugins

Select Create App.

The Atlas app details page appears. When Atlas completes building your application, a checkmark appears under Last Build.

Headless App Building

View Your App

To visit your headless WordPress app once the first deploy finishes, click the link under the Atlas URL heading. Your Atlas app opens in a new browser tab. Enjoy!

First app deployed

Set Environment Variables (Optional)

To add environment variables for your app, click Add environment variable.

Enter the Key and Value pairs for each environment variable.

For example, you may need to add a NEXT_PUBLIC_WORDPRESS_URL key with a URL as its value to specify which WordPress site should be used as the data source for the app. You may also need to specify additional environment variables to store sensitive data such as API keys and secrets.

Please refer to your JavaScript framework’s documentation if you’re unsure what environment variables are required for your app.