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You’ll need a GitHub repo with a working Dockerfile. By the end, a push or pull request gives you a live URL.
Dashboard overview
New here? Your dashboard shows a Getting started checklist that walks you through these same steps — connect a repo, deploy it, open your live app — and ticks each one off as you go.

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1. Sign in

Sign in with GitHub. Slipway uses GitHub for identity — there are no passwords. First time in, you’ll be prompted to install the GitHub App.

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2. Install the GitHub App

Click Install Slipway GitHub App and choose which account and repositories to grant. You can scope it to a single repo while you try things out; repos you don’t grant stay invisible to slipway. When you come back, slipway creates an org named after the GitHub account and lists its repos under Repos.
One org per GitHub account. Re-installing on the same account signs you back into the same org. Installing on a different account creates a different org.

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3. Pick a plan

Slipway routes you to the plan picker. Plans include a 30-day free trial with no credit card required — adding a card during the trial is optional, and nothing runs after the trial until one is on file. Until you pick a plan the org is read-only: you can browse, but deploys are blocked. See Plans & pricing.

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4. Add slipway.yaml

Create a file called slipway.yaml at the root of your repo. The smallest valid spec:
slipway.yaml
version: 1

services:
  web:
    build:
      context: .
    ports:
      - { port: 3000, public: true }
    healthcheck:
      readiness: { http: { path: /healthz, port: 3000 } }
This builds the Dockerfile at the repo root, exposes port 3000 publicly, and waits for /healthz to return 2xx before going live. Adjust the port and path for your app — the Services reference covers every field.
No slipway.yaml? Slipway can deploy straight from a committed docker-compose.yml instead. See the spec overview.

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5. Deploy the repo

As soon as your plan is picked you land on Deploy a repo (it’s also one click away from the dashboard, the Repos page, and the Environments page). Pick your repository, keep the default branch, and hit Deploy — or skip to the dashboard and come back later. That one button creates an environment for the repo, starts the first build, and drops you on the live deployment page. Slipway validates your spec along the way; if slipway.yaml is missing or malformed, it tells you exactly what’s wrong before anything runs. The phase ladder on the deployment page tracks build → deploy → live.
Deployment detail page
Deploying more than one repo together, or a PR-preview-only setup with nothing permanently running? Use the environment composer instead (Environments → New environment) — see Environments.

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6. Push and open pull requests

When the status reaches healthy, the deployment page shows the public URL. From here the repo behaves the way you’d expect:
  • Push to the tracked branch and slipway rebuilds and redeploys it automatically. The environment header shows whether it’s set to auto-update or pinned.
  • Open a pull request and slipway builds a separate preview with its own URL, torn down when the PR closes. If PR comments are on (the default), the URL is posted into the PR thread.

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Next steps

Secrets & variables

Wire DATABASE_URL, API_KEY, and friends in without committing them.

Custom domains

Serve previews under your own domain instead of the default.

Repository settings

Auto-deploy, PR comments, and preview authentication.

Deployments

Triggers, manual deploys, and the deployment lifecycle.