Documentation

Bonsai Cloud

Git push → live. Connect a repo and Bonsai Cloud provisions the web app, DNS, TLS, and the deploy webhook — then every push after that deploys itself.

Early access. Bonsai Cloud is free while we build it out. We'll sort out plans later — for now, deploy as much as you like.

Introduction

Bonsai Cloud is managed hosting for landing pages and small sites. You point it at a GitHub repository and a domain; it creates everything needed to serve that site and wires up continuous deployment. There's no dashboard clicking and no infrastructure to babysit.

It handles the whole loop for you:

The web app on tuned Nginx (native for static, hybrid for PHP)
The DNS record (auto-created for Cloudflare-managed domains)
A Let's Encrypt certificate, renewed automatically
An auto-deploy webhook so every push goes live
Instant, non-destructive rollback when you need it

Static site generators (Astro, Vite, Eleventy, Hugo), plain HTML, and PHP lead-capture landers are all first-class.

Quickstart

From zero to a live, HTTPS site in three commands.

1. Install the CLI

npm install -g @bonsaicloud/cli

2. Connect your account

bonsai init stores your token and picks your default server and team. It's interactive and only needs to run once.

bonsai init
bonsai doctor   # verify connectivity

3. Deploy

bonsai deploy acme \
  --repo edgedigital/acme-lander \
  --domain acme.example.com

✓ Web app created
✓ DNS record created (acme.example.com → 77.42.25.95)
✓ Repo attached · webhook registered
✓ SSL issued (Let's Encrypt, dns-01)
✓ Deployment triggered

Done. acme → https://acme.example.com  ·  ~50s

That's it — the site is live over HTTPS, and every push to the branch redeploys it. Run it from inside the repo and the preset is auto-detected; you can omit the name too.

The deploy command

bonsai deploy <name> --repo <owner/repo> --domain <fqdn> [options]

A single deploy runs the full provisioning sequence:

Creates the web app on your server
Grants the deploy user read access to the repo
Attaches the repo and registers the push webhook
Adds the domain and requests a certificate
Triggers the first deployment
Writes a bonsai.json to the repo so later commands know the target

Options

Flag	Description
`--repo`	GitHub repository, `owner/repo` or a full URL. Required.
`--domain`	Domain or subdomain to serve on. Required.
`--preset`	`html · astro · vite · eleventy · hugo · php`. Auto-detected from a local checkout if omitted.
`--branch`	Branch to deploy. Defaults to `main`.
`--no-ssl`	Skip certificate issuance (serve over HTTP only).

Presets

A preset tells Bonsai how to build (if at all) and which directory to serve. It's auto-detected from your repo; pass --preset to be explicit.

Preset	Build	Served
`html`	—	files as-is
`astro`	`npm ci && npm run build`	`/dist`
`vite`	`npm ci && npm run build`	`/dist`
`eleventy`	`npm ci && npm run build`	`/_site`
`hugo`	`hugo --minify`	`/public`
`php`	—	Apache + PHP-FPM

PHP landers. The php preset runs on a hybrid Nginx + Apache stack, so a lander's .htaccess and form handler work as-is. Secrets live in a server-side config.php (git-ignored) that you create once — see the FAQ.

Domains & SSL

Pass any domain to --domain. For domains on a connected Cloudflare account, Bonsai creates the DNS record for you and issues the certificate via DNS-01 validation — no manual steps. For other providers, point an A record at your server first; Bonsai checks that it resolves before requesting the certificate.

Certificates are Let's Encrypt and renew automatically. HTTPS is typically live within a minute of deploying.

Auto-deploy & rollback

After the first deploy, the push webhook is live: every push to the branch builds and goes live automatically. No dashboards, no manual redeploys.

Shipped something you'd like to undo? Roll back to any previous commit — non-destructively (a new commit restores the old content, so history is preserved):

bonsai rollback acme            # pick from recent commits
bonsai rollback acme --to 85e6c46   # or target a specific commit

Roll "forward" again with a normal push.

CLI reference

Command	What it does
`bonsai init`	Configure the CLI (token, default server, team).
`bonsai doctor`	Verify configuration and connectivity.
`bonsai deploy <name>`	Provision + deploy a site in one command.
`bonsai list`	List the sites you've deployed.
`bonsai logs [name]`	Show the latest deploy / activity log.
`bonsai redeploy [name]`	Trigger a deployment manually.
`bonsai rollback [name]`	Roll the live site back to a previous commit.
`bonsai open [name]`	Open the live URL in your browser.
`bonsai rm [name]`	Delete a site (guarded by a confirmation).

Commands that take [name] default to the bonsai.json in the current directory, so inside a repo you can just run bonsai redeploy.

Configuration

Config lives in ~/.bonsai/config.json (written by bonsai init). Every value can be overridden with an environment variable — handy for CI:

Variable	Purpose
`BONSAI_TOKEN`	API token for your account.
`BONSAI_GITHUB_TOKEN`	GitHub token for repo access + the webhook.
`BONSAI_SERVER_ID`	Default server to deploy to.
`BONSAI_DEPLOY_TEAM`	GitHub team granted read access to lander repos.
`BONSAI_BASE_DOMAIN`	Default base domain for new sites.

FAQ

Is it only for static sites?

No. Static (HTML + any generator) and PHP lead-capture landers are both supported. PHP runs on a hybrid stack with the form handler and .htaccess intact.

How do PHP secrets stay safe?

The webhook URL and other secrets live in a server-side config.php that's git-ignored and created once on the server. It survives redeploys, and Bonsai keeps it (and the lead store) out of public reach.

Can I roll back a bad deploy?

Yes — bonsai rollback restores a previous version in seconds, without rewriting history.

Where does my site run?

On tuned Nginx on dedicated hardware — no cold starts, no per-request billing, no noisy neighbours.

What does it cost?

It's free during early access. We'll introduce plans down the line; nothing you deploy now will be pulled out from under you.

Deploy your first site Back to home