Deploys

Data apps

Deploying data apps with Observable is easy. With a single command, you can have your work ready to share with your team or the public.

How to deploy

To deploy a data app, you'll need to have first built an Observale Framework application. (If you are new to Framework, check out our getting started guide.)

Once your application is ready to deploy, run the npm run deploy command. This command will prompt a series of questions to get your application on Observable. Many of these prompts are done on your first deploy, such as authentication, naming your data app, and choosing the workspace to deploy to.

The deploy command will walk you through a series of prompts to get your data app on Observable.

You can also deploy data apps using Github Actions, which allows you to schedule builds. This can be helpful for dashboards where data is updating regularly. You can see an example Github deploy workflow here.

Authentication

The first time you deploy a Framework application, you'll be asked to authenticate with your Observable account. You will be provided with a secure link to navigate to, and once you've signed into Observable, you simply authorize your device for deployments.

The authorize device page is where you connect your Observable account with your local machine, so you can deploy framework applications

Once your device is authorized, you will not be asked again for future deploys, unless you are working on a different unauthorized device. There is no limit to the number of devices you can authorize to make deploys.

Deploy history

You can view the deploy history for a data app by navigating to "Deploys". There you will find deploy details such as when the deploys occurred, who deployed, any deploy message and a deploy id.

In the deploy details page for a data app, you can see who deployed, when, and if there was any message tied to that deploy.