Deploy Express & Node.js on WebStadia

WebStadia supports deploying Express, Fastify, NestJS, and other Node.js backends as serverless functions.

How it works

Your Express app runs on AWS Lambda behind WebStadia's global CDN. WebStadia automatically:

1. Detects your framework from package.json
2. Installs dependencies
3. Bundles your app using @vercel/nft (only includes files your app actually uses)
4. Wraps it with @vendia/serverless-express for Lambda compatibility
5. Deploys to a Lambda function with a public URL

Your app is accessible via your-site.subsite.cc or a custom domain.

Quick start

1. Create an Express app

// index.js
const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.json({ hello: 'world' });
});

app.get('/api/users', (req, res) => {
  res.json([{ id: 1, name: 'Alice' }]);
});

// Important: export the app for serverless
module.exports = app;

// Also listen for local development
if (require.main === module) {
  app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Listening on 3000'));
}

2. Deploy

Zip your project (including package.json and node_modules) and upload, or connect your GitHub repo.

WebStadia auto-detects Express from your package.json dependencies and handles the rest.

3. Build settings

Setting	Value
Build Command	(none needed for Express)
Install Command	npm install

If your project uses TypeScript or has a build step:

Setting	Value
Build Command	npm run build
Entry point	dist/index.js

Supported frameworks

WebStadia auto-detects and supports:

Framework	Detection
Express	express in dependencies
Fastify	fastify in dependencies
NestJS	@nestjs/core in dependencies
Koa	koa in dependencies
Hapi	@hapi/hapi in dependencies

Entry point resolution

WebStadia looks for your app's entry point in this order:

1. dist/index.js (TypeScript builds)
2. build/index.js
3. index.js
4. app.js
5. server.js
6. src/index.js

Your entry point must export the Express app (or an HTTP handler):

// ✅ Works
module.exports = app;

// ✅ Also works
module.exports.default = app;
module.exports.app = app;

Environment variables

Set environment variables in Settings → Build Environment Variables. They're available at runtime via process.env:

const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
const apiKey = process.env.API_KEY;

WebStadia automatically sets:

• NODE_ENV=production
• WEBSTADIA_WEBSITE_ID=your-website-id

Lambda configuration

Default settings (configurable per website):

Setting	Default
Runtime	Node.js 20.x
Memory	256 MB
Timeout	30 seconds
Region	us-east-1

Limitations

• No WebSocket support - Lambda functions are stateless. Use a separate WebSocket service if needed.
• Cold starts - First request after inactivity takes ~500ms-2s. Subsequent requests are fast.
• 30-second timeout - Long-running requests will be terminated. For background jobs, use a queue.
• No persistent filesystem - Lambda has a temporary /tmp directory (512 MB) that's cleared between invocations.
• Request body limit - 6 MB for synchronous invocations.

NestJS example

// main.ts
import { NestFactory } from '@nestjs/core';
import { AppModule } from './app.module';

async function bootstrap() {
  const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule);
  await app.listen(3000);
}

// Export for serverless
export default bootstrap;

Build settings for NestJS:

Setting	Value
Build Command	npm run build
Install Command	npm install