Zoro

Introduction

Welcome to dFlow: what the platform is, what makes it different, and where to go next, including dFlow Cloud and self-hosting.

Welcome to dFlow

Beyond the welcome page: comparisons, trade-offs, and when another tool might be a better fit.

Why choose dFlow

Capabilities across applications, environments, services, compute, data, and platform operations.

What you can do with dFlow

Decide between dFlow Cloud and self-hosted dFlow before you open task-by-task guides.

Choose your path

Canonical terms used across dFlow documentation and the product UI.

Glossary

Roadmap

Changelog

Getting Started

Decide dFlow Cloud vs self-hosted control plane, then follow the matching quick start and first-deploy path.

Shortest path on dFlow Cloud: account, Worker Node, Application, first Service deployment.

Quick start for dFlow Cloud

Install the control plane, then complete first-time Worker Node onboarding (SSH, Dokku, domain).

Quick start for Self-Hosted dFlow

Sign up for dFlow Cloud, verify email, and reach your dashboard at app.dflow.sh.

Create your account and workspace

What to expect after your first login: workspace, navigation, and where Applications and Worker Nodes live.

First login and dashboard tour

Configure a Service from Git, a Docker image, or a database template, then deploy.

Deploy your first app

Add a database Service inside an Application, deploy it, and know where credentials and connections live.

Create your first database

Pick a template from the marketplace or library, instantiate Services, and deploy with guided defaults.

Use your first template

After your first deploy: domains, team access, integrations, databases depth, and operations.

Next steps after setup

Core Concepts

Top-down map of organisations, applications, environments, services, and deployments.

How dFlow is structured

How the control plane, worker nodes, networking, builds, and monitoring fit together.

Platform architecture

Organisation as tenant boundary: members, billing, and how “tenant” maps to the product UI.

Organisations and tenants

Application entity and how it groups environments.

Applications

Environment isolation and compute attachment.

Environments

Services

Worker Nodes execute Services for Environments; how they relate to the control plane and managed compute.

Worker Nodes

What a Deployment represents, how it relates to Services and Environments, and where operations apply.

Deployments

How templates accelerate setup: marketplace, library, and relationship to Applications and Services.

Templates

Conceptual model for backups: scope by Service type, environments, and where task guides live.

Backups

Map legacy Projects to Applications, Environments, and Services; link to migration when ready.

Legacy Projects vs Applications

dFlow Cloud

Why use dFlow Cloud, where to sign in, browser requirements, and how it relates to your Worker Nodes.

dFlow Cloud overview

After sign-up: what your cloud workspace is and the checklist to reach a first deployment.

Create your cloud workspace

Self-hosted Worker Nodes vs managed compute on dFlow Cloud; attach compute to Environments and separate from self-hosting the control plane.

Choose compute / managed infrastructure

When billing appears on dFlow Cloud, what to prepare, and links to subscription and usage docs.

Payment setup

Authorize GitHub, GitLab, or other providers on app.dflow.sh so Services can build from repositories.

Connect your Git provider

Plan, fair use, builds, and support expectations for dFlow Cloud vs self-hosted control planes.

Cloud limits and expectations

Org access, compute, Git, secrets, operations, and legacy Project migration habits on dFlow Cloud.

Cloud best practices

What an Application is in the dashboard, how it relates to Environments and Services, and where to go next.

Applications overview

Create New Application wizard: Application details, Environment, Compute, Services activation, and draft continuation.

Create an application

Application Settings tab: name, description, danger zone delete, and how this differs from Environment settings.

Application settings

Draft, active, and archived Application status; wizard completion; badges and primary actions in the UI.

Application lifecycle

What the default Environment does for navigation, shortcuts, and highlights inside an Application.

Default environment

Restore archived Applications, delete drafts and active Applications, and use delete options safely.

Archive / delete / manage applications

What an Environment is in the dashboard, how it relates to Applications, Services, and Worker Nodes, and where to go next.

Environments overview

Use Add Environment from the Application Environments tab: Environment tier, Compute, and Activation.

Create an environment

Bind Worker Nodes or managed compute to an Environment during the wizard or from the Compute tab.

Attach compute to an environment

How Environment status appears in the UI, how it relates to the Add Environment wizard, and what to expect operationally.

Draft vs active environments

Environment Settings tab: name, default Environment flag, and Danger Zone delete.

Environment settings

Naming, isolation, compute attachment, and operational habits for Environments in dFlow.

Environment best practices

Service types in the dashboard, where they live under Applications and Environments, and links to create, configure, and operate them.

Services overview

Use Applications → Environment → Add service (or the new-Application wizard) to create Services; then configure and deploy.

Create a service

Git-backed application Services: what you configure, automatic vs manual deploys, and links to integrations and operations.

App services

How database Services fit the Applications model; point to Databases section for engines, credentials, backups, and troubleshooting.

Database services

Bring-your-own-image Services: configuration, registry auth, volumes, and operations vs Git-based App services.

Docker services

Environment variables: static values, references to other Services, secret() helper, and database reference variables.

Service settings

Scope of Services per Environment, shared compute, internal networking to databases, and links to Environment docs.

How services relate to environments

Team dFlow

Setup

Installation

Installation Overview

Running in Docker

Onboarding

Guides

Fundamentals

Projects

Environment Variables

Volumes

Templates Overview

Create

Best Practices

Publish

Deploy

Logs

Integrations

Git Sources

Git Sources Overview

GitHub

Azure DevOps

Gitlab

Gitea

BitBucket

Cloud Providers

Providers Overview

Docker Registry

dFlow

Server

SSH Keys

Security Groups

Add Servers

Add Servers Overview

dFlow Servers

Manual Servers

AWS EC2 Instance

Databases

Add databases next to your apps in dFlow, deploy them in a few clicks, and connect securely without managing Docker ports by hand.

Databases Overview

How dFlow creates internal database backups on your compute, what restore and delete do, and which backup features are still on the roadmap.

Add MongoDB in dFlow, deploy it, wire apps with MONGO reference variables, and understand multi-port public access when you Expose.

MongoDB

Add MySQL in dFlow, deploy it, use internal credentials or reference variables, and optionally expose it for external tools.

MySQL

Add Postgres in dFlow, deploy it, copy your connection string or wire it with reference variables, and optionally expose it to the internet.

PostgreSQL

Add MariaDB in dFlow, deploy it, connect from your apps with reference variables, and control public access with Expose.

MariaDB

Add Redis in dFlow for cache and fast data, deploy it, use REDIS reference variables, and expose it only when you need external access.

Redis

Add ClickHouse in dFlow for analytics workloads, deploy it, use CLICKHOUSE reference variables, and understand multi-port Expose when needed.