Quick Start — Node.js

Publish a working Node.js application on Zenifra using the Git repository source with the GitHub provider.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+ installed locally
• a GitHub account, with the Zenifra GitHub App installed and connected to the organization (see How to connect GitHub)
• access to the Zenifra console

Note: This quickstart uses GitHub. The same flow works for a Forgejo repository; see Deploy via Forgejo.

Step 1 — Create your application

mkdir hello-zenifra
cd hello-zenifra
npm init -y
npm install express

Create index.js:

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.json({ message: 'Hello from Zenifra!', time: new Date().toISOString() });
});

app.get('/health', (req, res) => {
  res.json({ status: 'ok' });
});

const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;
app.listen(PORT, '0.0.0.0', () => {
  console.log(`Server running on port ${PORT}`);
});

Update package.json with a start command:

{
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node index.js"
  }
}

Confirm that package-lock.json was generated and is synchronized with package.json before publishing the project. Commit both files to the application root directory.

Verify dependency installation with the same Node.js version that you will select on Zenifra:

npm ci
npm start

Step 2 — Publish to GitHub

Create a repository on GitHub and push the code:

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin https://github.com/your-username/hello-zenifra.git
git push -u origin main

Step 3 — Create the project on Zenifra

1. In the console, set Project Source to Git repository and, under Git provider, select GitHub.
2. Select the repository and the main branch.
3. Under Runtime, select Node.js and choose the Version.
4. In the Port field, enter 3000.
5. In Build Command, use npm run build if package.json has a build script; otherwise, leave the field empty.
6. In Start Command, use npm start.
7. If you want automatic updates on push, select Automatic by branch under Deployment mode.
8. Click Create Project.

Step 4 — Validate the deployment

Open the URL at *.clients.zenifra.com. You will see:

{ "message": "Hello from Zenifra!", "time": "2026-04-30T14:00:00.000Z" }

Also test /health to confirm the application is ready.

With Automatic by branch selected, Zenifra deploys a new version on each push to main.

Troubleshooting

Next steps

• Node.js dependencies and build errors
• Ports and health checks
• Production deploy
• Quickstart with database