Services and service types

On Muerte Cloud you deploy code as one or more services. This page explains what a service is, and how to choose the right type for what you're running.

A service is a unit of code that Muerte Cloud builds, runs and monitors for you. It might be an API server, a static frontend, an internal worker, or a scheduled job — but the deployment model is the same for all of them.

Each service runs on one or more instances: containerized environments on Muerte Cloud infrastructure. The instance type determines how much CPU and RAM each instance gets; the number of instances determines how much parallelism you have.

Service types#

When you create a new service, the first thing you pick is its type. Muerte Cloud has six service types for running code and three managed service types for storing data — nine in total.

Web service

Dynamic apps served at a public HTTPS URL. Most first services are this.

Static site

Prebuilt HTML/CSS/JS served from a global edge with managed TLS.

Private service

Dynamic apps with no public URL, reachable only from other services in your project.

Background worker

Long-running processes that pull work from a queue and expose no ports.

Workflow

Multi-step jobs that chain tasks together, with retries and status tracking per step.

Cron job

Commands or scripts that run on a schedule and exit when done.

Which service type is right for my code?

Answer four questions in order. The first "yes" wins:

Does the code only serve prebuilt static files? Use a static site.
Does it receive traffic from the public internet? Use a web service.
Does it receive traffic, but only from other services in the same project? Use a private service.
Does it run on a fixed schedule and then exit? Use a cron job. Otherwise, if it runs continuously without exposing a port, use a background worker.

Tip

A service's type is set at creation and cannot be changed later. Create a new service of the correct type if you need to switch — environment variables and secrets can be copied over from the dashboard.

Summary of service types#

Type	Public URL	Private hostname	Runs	Typical use
Web service	Yes	Yes	Continuously	API servers, SSR frontends, Rails / Django apps
Static site	Yes (edge)	—	Build-time only	React, Vue, Astro, Hugo, docs sites
Private service	No	Yes	Continuously	Internal APIs, search, self-hosted infra
Background worker	No	No	Continuously	Queue consumers, Sidekiq / Celery workers
Workflow	No	No	On trigger, then exits	Multi-step pipelines, chained jobs
Cron job	No	No	On schedule, then exits	Nightly reports, cleanup scripts, ETL runs

Managed datastores#

Alongside your services, Muerte Cloud also runs three fully managed datastore types. All three are provisioned inside your project's private network and are reachable from your other services with zero configuration.

Managed Postgres

Relational database with automated daily backups, point-in-time recovery on paid tiers and one-click read replicas.

Managed Key-Value

In-memory key-value store, wire-compatible with common Redis-protocol clients. Ideal as a queue or shared cache.

Managed MongoDB

Document database for JSON-shaped data, with automated daily backups.

For workloads that don't fit the managed offerings, web services, private services and background workers can attach a persistent disk and run their own datastore. Cron jobs and static sites cannot attach disks.

What every service type gets#

Git-driven deploys

Push to the tracked branch; a new release rolls out automatically.

Private network

Free encrypted network shared by services in the same project.

Env vars & secrets

Managed secret store injected at runtime, never written to the image.

Logs & metrics

Real-time log streaming and CPU / memory / network metrics on every service.

Instant rollbacks

One-click rollback to a past successful build.

Preview environments In development

Per-PR sandbox environments — in development.