Deploy appCrane as a Self-Hosted Agent PaaS

appCrane is a self-hosted platform where AI agents can build and deploy applications on your own server. Think of it as a self-hosted Heroku for agent-generated apps — agents create the code, appCrane handles the deployment, routing, secrets, and audit trail.

• A running PaaS that agents can deploy apps to via MCP
• Per-user authentication with enterprise SSO
• A complete audit trail of which agent deployed what and when
• A secret hard-wall — agent A cannot access agent B's environment variables or credentials
• Docker-based deployments managed through a web UI or API

1. Clone the repository.

   git clone https://github.com/gitayg/appCrane
   cd appCrane
   

2. Configure environment variables. Copy the example .env file and set your domain, database URL, and SSO provider details.

3. Start with Docker Compose.

   docker-compose up -d
   

   This starts the appCrane server, database, and reverse proxy.

4. Configure DNS. Point your domain's wildcard record (*.yourdomain.com) to your server's IP address. appCrane uses this to route deployed apps to unique subdomains.

5. Set up the MCP connection. Add appCrane's MCP endpoint to your agent's configuration. Your agent can now deploy apps by calling appCrane's MCP tools.

6. Create user accounts. If using SSO, configure your provider. Otherwise, create accounts through the admin UI.

7. Test the deployment flow. Have your agent create a simple app and deploy it. Verify it appears at the expected subdomain and that the audit log captures the action.

• Backups: Back up the appCrane database regularly — it stores all deployment metadata and audit logs.
• Resource limits: Set Docker resource constraints per deployed app to prevent a single agent app from consuming all server resources.
• Secret rotation: Use appCrane's secret management to rotate API keys and credentials without redeploying apps.
• Monitoring: appCrane exposes health check endpoints — wire them into your existing monitoring stack.

• Single-server deployment (no clustering in the current version).
• JavaScript/Node.js ecosystem — no native support for other runtime deployment.
• New project (launched mid-2026) — expect rough edges and API changes.
• AGPL-3.0 license — verify compatibility with your organization's licensing policy.

• GitHub: gitayg/appCrane
• License: AGPL-3.0