Render.com Deployment & Infrastructure

Render manages infrastructure through Blueprints - YAML configuration files that define services, databases, and environment groups as code.

Quick Start

# Install Render CLI
brew install render

# Authenticate
render login

# Set workspace
render workspace set

# List services
render services

# Deploy a service
render deploys create SERVICE_ID

# Open SSH session
render ssh SERVICE_ID

Blueprint Configuration

render.yaml Structure

Every Blueprint file is named render.yaml at the repo root:

previews:
  generation: automatic # Enable preview environments

services:
  - type: web
    name: my-app
    runtime: node
    plan: starter
    region: oregon
    buildCommand: npm install
    startCommand: npm start
    envVars:
      - key: APP_ENV
        value: production
      - key: DATABASE_URL
        fromDatabase:
          name: my-db
          property: connectionString

databases:
  - name: my-db
    plan: basic-256mb
    region: oregon

envVarGroups:
  - name: shared-config
    envVars:
      - key: API_VERSION
        value: v1

Key Fields

See: references/blueprint-spec.md for complete YAML reference.

Service Types

# Web service
- type: web
  name: api-server
  runtime: node
  buildCommand: npm install
  startCommand: npm start

# Private service (internal only)
- type: pserv
  name: internal-cache
  runtime: docker

# Background worker
- type: worker
  name: job-processor
  runtime: python
  buildCommand: pip install -r requirements.txt
  startCommand: python worker.py

# Cron job (runs every hour)
- type: cron
  name: cleanup-task
  runtime: python
  schedule: "0 * * * *"
  buildCommand: pip install -r requirements.txt
  startCommand: python cleanup.py

See: references/service-types.md for detailed comparison.

Environment Variables

Setting Values

envVars:
  # Hardcoded value
  - key: API_URL
    value: https://api.example.com

  # Generated secret (base64, 256-bit)
  - key: JWT_SECRET
    generateValue: true

  # Prompt in Dashboard (for secrets)
  - key: STRIPE_KEY
    sync: false

  # Reference database property
  - key: DATABASE_URL
    fromDatabase:
      name: my-db
      property: connectionString

  # Reference another service
  - key: REDIS_URL
    fromService:
      type: keyvalue
      name: my-cache
      property: connectionString

  # Link environment group
  - fromGroup: shared-config

Preview Environment Overrides

envVars:
  - key: API_KEY
    value: production-key
    previewValue: test-key # Used in preview environments

See: references/blueprint-spec.md for all env var patterns.

Datastores

Render Postgres

databases:
  - name: my-database
    plan: basic-256mb # basic-256mb, basic-1gb, pro-4gb, etc.
    region: oregon
    postgresMajorVersion: "17"
    diskSizeGB: 15
    ipAllowList: # Restrict external access
      - source: 0.0.0.0/0
        description: everywhere

Render Key Value (Redis-compatible)

services:
  - type: keyvalue
    name: my-cache
    plan: starter
    maxmemoryPolicy: allkeys-lru # Eviction policy
    ipAllowList:
      - source: 0.0.0.0/0
        description: everywhere

Key Value policies: allkeys-lru, volatile-lru, noeviction, allkeys-lfu, volatile-random, allkeys-random, volatile-ttl

See: references/datastores.md for connection patterns.

Multi-Environment Setup

Use Render Projects to organize services by environment:

projects:
  - name: my-app
    environments:
      - name: production
        services:
          - type: web
            name: my-app-prod
            runtime: node
            plan: standard
            buildCommand: npm ci && npm run build
            startCommand: npm start
            envVars:
              - key: APP_ENV
                value: production
        databases:
          - name: my-db-prod
            plan: pro-4gb
        networking:
          isolation: enabled # Block cross-env traffic
        permissions:
          protection: enabled # Prevent destructive actions

      - name: staging
        services:
          - type: web
            name: my-app-staging
            runtime: node
            plan: starter
            buildCommand: npm ci && npm run build
            startCommand: npm start
            envVars:
              - key: APP_ENV
                value: staging
        databases:
          - name: my-db-staging
            plan: basic-256mb

Preview Environments

Automatically create full environment copies for pull requests:

previews:
  generation: automatic # or manual, off
  expireAfterDays: 7 # Auto-cleanup

services:
  - type: web
    name: my-app
    runtime: node
    plan: standard
    buildCommand: npm ci && npm run build
    startCommand: npm start
    previews:
      plan: starter # Cheaper instance for previews
      numInstances: 1

databases:
  - name: my-db
    plan: pro-4gb
    previewPlan: basic-256mb
    previewDiskSizeGB: 5

Manual mode: Add [render preview] to PR title to create preview. Skip preview: Add [skip preview] to PR title.

See: references/preview-environments.md for setup guide.

Helper Scripts

This skill includes automation scripts in scripts/:

Script Dependencies

# Install Python dependencies
pip install -r scripts/requirements.txt

Usage Examples

# Initialize new blueprint interactively
./scripts/init-blueprint.sh

# Generate from template
python scripts/generate-render-yaml.py --template full-stack --name my-app

# Validate before deploying
python scripts/validate-blueprint.py render.yaml

# Deploy a service (uses service ID from Render Dashboard)
./scripts/deploy-env.sh srv-abc123

# List env vars for a service
./scripts/env-sync.sh list -s srv-abc123

# Compare local .env with Render service
./scripts/env-sync.sh compare -s srv-abc123 -f .env

Common Tasks

Add New Service to Blueprint

1. Add service definition to render.yaml
2. Run python scripts/validate-blueprint.py render.yaml
3. Commit and push to trigger Blueprint sync
4. Verify in Render Dashboard

Connect Services via Private Network

Services in same region communicate over private network:

services:
  - type: web
    name: api
    runtime: node
    buildCommand: npm install
    startCommand: npm start
    envVars:
      - key: CACHE_URL
        fromService:
          type: keyvalue
          name: cache
          property: connectionString # Uses internal URL

  - type: keyvalue
    name: cache
    plan: starter
    ipAllowList: [] # Only internal connections

Scale a Service

# Manual scaling
- type: web
  name: my-app
  runtime: node
  buildCommand: npm install
  startCommand: npm start
  numInstances: 3

# Autoscaling (Professional workspace required)
- type: web
  name: my-app
  runtime: node
  buildCommand: npm install
  startCommand: npm start
  scaling:
    minInstances: 1
    maxInstances: 5
    targetCPUPercent: 70
    targetMemoryPercent: 80

Add Persistent Disk

- type: web
  name: my-app
  runtime: node
  buildCommand: npm install
  startCommand: npm start
  disk:
    name: app-data
    mountPath: /data
    sizeGB: 10

Warning: Services with disks cannot scale to multiple instances.

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions Example

name: Deploy to Render
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Install Render CLI
        run: |
          curl -L https://github.com/render-oss/cli/releases/download/v1.1.0/cli_1.1.0_linux_amd64.zip -o render.zip
          unzip render.zip && sudo mv cli_v1.1.0 /usr/local/bin/render

      - name: Deploy
        env:
          RENDER_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.RENDER_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          render deploys create ${{ secrets.RENDER_SERVICE_ID }} --output json --confirm --wait

See: references/ci-cd.md for more patterns.

Troubleshooting

Blueprint Sync Fails

1. Check YAML syntax: python scripts/validate-blueprint.py render.yaml
2. Verify service names are unique
3. Check region consistency (services referencing each other must be in same region)

Service Won't Deploy

1. Check build logs in Dashboard
2. Verify buildCommand and startCommand
3. Ensure PORT environment variable used (default: 10000)

Database Connection Issues

1. Use internal URL for same-region services
2. Check IP allowlist for external connections
3. Verify credentials in environment variables

Preview Environment Not Created

1. Verify previews.generation: automatic in render.yaml
2. Check PR title doesn't contain [skip preview]
3. Ensure Blueprint is synced and linked to repo

Reference Documentation

• Blueprint YAML Reference - Complete field reference
• Service Types - Detailed service comparison
• Datastores - Postgres and Key Value setup
• Preview Environments - PR preview configuration
• CI/CD Integration - Pipeline automation
• CLI Commands - Render CLI reference