---
title: Quickstart Guide
category: Getting Started
description: Deploy your first application to Dequel in under 5 minutes.
slug: quickstart
---

This guide takes you from an empty dashboard to a live HTTPS app. You
need a running Dequel installation and a login user (see
[Installation](/docs/installation)). No Dockerfile is required — Dequel
detects your framework automatically.

## Step 1: Create a project

Open the dashboard and click **New Project**.

![Dequel dashboard](/screenshots/dashboard.png)

Fill in the wizard:

1. **Source** — pick **Git** (paste an HTTPS clone URL and branch, or
   connect your GitHub account to pick a repo) or **Upload** (a `.zip`
   of your code).
2. **Name** — a unique project name. It becomes your default URL:
   `<name>.<your-domain>`.
3. **Target server** — where the app runs. `local` (this machine) works
   out of the box; other servers appear after you connect them (see
   [Servers](/docs/servers)).
4. **Build strategy** — **Automatic (Railpack)** for a single service,
   or **Docker Compose** if your repo root has a `docker-compose.yml`.
5. For Railpack builds, confirm the detected framework settings (install
   and start commands, output directory, port).

![New project wizard](/screenshots/create-project.png)

Click **Launch Deployment**. Dequel creates the project, links any
selected shared env vars, and immediately starts the first deployment.

## Step 2: Watch the build

The project page opens on the **Deployments** tab. Build logs stream
live as Railpack detects the framework, BuildKit builds the image, and
the container starts. Deployments move through `pending` → `building` →
`deploying` → `running` (or `failed` if something breaks).

![Deployment build logs](/screenshots/deployments.png)

If the build fails, click **Diagnose** in the log header to hand the
failure to an AI agent — see [AI Diagnosis](/docs/ai-diagnosis).

## Step 3: Open your app

Once the deployment is `running`, click the live URL pill in the
project header. Locally that is
`http://<name>.localhost`; with a base domain configured it is
`https://<name>.<your-domain>` with a valid certificate.

## Step 4: Push updates

- **Git projects:** push to the tracked branch and Dequel rebuilds
  automatically (via the GitHub webhook), or click **Manual Deploy** to
  rebuild from the latest commit or a specific SHA.
- **Upload projects:** drop a new archive on the Deployments tab.

Previous builds keep their images, so you can **Rollback** to any
earlier deployment from the history table.

## Next steps

- Add [environment variables](/docs/env-vars) and link
  [shared env vars](/docs/shared-env-vars).
- Attach a [custom domain](/docs/domains) with automatic SSL.
- Provision a [managed database](/docs/databases).
- Set [resource limits and autoscaling](/docs/scaling).