Skip to main content

Backend Apps

1. Overview​

Backend Apps are backend services (APIs, workers) hosted and published by the platform. The screen and creation flow are quite similar to Frontend Apps — the main difference is in the preview and in how the application is exposed publicly.

2. Creating a Backend App​

Just like a Frontend App, a Backend App can be created in two ways:

Vibe Code (Create App)​

Generates the application from a natural-language description, with a choice of AI model. The platform already takes care of the Dockerfile automatically in this flow.

Import from GitHub​

Imports an existing backend from a Git repository, with the same fields used for a Frontend App: App Name, GitHub URL, Branch, Container Port, App Folder in Repository (optional), Dockerfile Path (optional), Additional folders (optional), and GitHub Token (optional, for private repositories).

When the app is imported from GitHub, a correctly configured Dockerfile is required in the repository: that's what the platform uses to build the application image. Without a configured Git repository, there's no way to build.

3. Environments​

Each Backend App has environments (e.g. Test, Production), showing Status, Artifact, Replicas, Memory, bound Secrets, and Config Maps — the same model used in Frontend Apps.

4. App IDE​

The Backend App IDE has the same tabs as a Frontend App — Code, Preview, Preview Logs, and Builds — with the same file editor, build history, and AI Copilot to modify, create, or analyze code (with shortcuts like Error handling, Refactor, Add tests).

The difference is in the Preview tab: for a Backend App, the preview shows the API's Swagger instead of a visual interface. It appears when the application correctly exposes the API documentation endpoint — on Java Quarkus this works natively, and other stacks (such as Node/Next.js) also show Swagger as long as the endpoint is configured in the application itself.

5. Publishing a Backend App and Exposing the API​

Publishing a Backend App has one extra step compared to a Frontend App:

  1. Build and deploy the app.
  2. If the intent is to expose the API on the internet, configure a Route in API Management, pointing to that Backend App.

Without this step in API Management, the Backend App is published internally, but not publicly accessible.

6. FAQ​

Why doesn't my Preview show Swagger? Because the application isn't exposing the API documentation endpoint. On Java Quarkus the preview appears natively; on other stacks (e.g. Node/Next.js) you need to configure the Swagger endpoint inside the application itself.

Can a Backend App be called from a Flow? Yes.

Can the same API be exposed in Test and Production with different routes? No — you can't have different routes per environment for the same API.