Quick Start

This guide walks through deploying a Shiny app using the by CLI. It assumes Blockyard is already running (see Installation).

1. Install the CLI#

Download the by binary for your platform from the releases page and place it on your PATH. See Installation for details.

2. Log in#

by login --server http://localhost:8080

This opens your browser to create a Personal Access Token, then asks you to paste it back into the terminal.

3. Create your app#

Your app directory should look something like:

my-app/
├── app.R          # or ui.R + server.R
└── DESCRIPTION    # optional: declares R package dependencies

4. Deploy#

by deploy ./my-app --wait

The CLI detects your dependencies, bundles the directory, uploads it, and streams the build logs:

Detected:
  Name:        my-app
  Mode:        DESCRIPTION (entrypoint: app.R)
  Deps:        3 packages
  Repository:  https://cran.r-project.org

Deploy? [Y/n] y

Uploading bundle... done.

  App:       my-app
  Bundle:    b1234... (building)
  Task:      t5678...
  URL:       http://localhost:8080/app/my-app/

Streaming build logs...
  ✓ Installing pak
  ✓ Restoring packages (3)
  ✓ Build complete

5. Open the app#

Visit the URL printed by by deploy:

http://localhost:8080/app/my-app/

Blockyard spawns a worker container on demand when the first request arrives.

Next steps#

by deploy reference — all flags and dependency detection modes
Deploying an App — bundle structure, build process, pinned vs. unpinned dependencies
Authorization — roles, per-app ACLs, and visibility settings

Using the REST API directly#

If you prefer scripting with curl instead of the CLI, the same workflow looks like this:

export BLOCKYARD=http://localhost:8080
export TOKEN=by_...   # your Personal Access Token

# Create the app
curl -X POST "$BLOCKYARD/api/v1/apps" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "my-app"}'

# Bundle and upload
tar -czf bundle.tar.gz -C my-app .
curl -X POST "$BLOCKYARD/api/v1/apps/my-app/bundles" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
  --data-binary @bundle.tar.gz

# Stream build logs (use the task_id from the upload response)
curl "$BLOCKYARD/api/v1/tasks/<task-id>/logs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

See the REST API reference for the full endpoint list.