Deploying your app

Deploying your app means transferring or updating the current version of your application from the Development environment to the Live environment (sometimes called production), making it accessible to end-users.

In other words - this is the point where you publish your app to users who are actually going to use it. Deploying an app in Bubble is done with the click of a button.

Requirements for deploying

While you are mostly free to deploy your app whenever you like, Bubble does require that the is not flagging any issues. If the issue tracker is showing any issues, they first need to be resolved in order to deploy.

Planning to deploy

Deploying your app is a significant milestone, marking the moment your latest changes go live for your audience. It's an event deserving careful planning, as it brings your updates and enhancements directly to your end users.

The amount of testing and reviewing you need before you deploy is of course up to you. If you have made significant changes and/or more than one person has been working on the app, it's best to take precautions before deploying.

Below is a suggested checklist. You can use this to set up a system that makes sense to you and your team.

While not all points may be necessary every time, we recommend having a systematic approach to deploying that minimizes the chance of your live users experiencing issues.

The user experience

When you deploy your app, users will instantly see a notification at the top of the screen that tells them to refresh the tab. Clicking on the tab will refresh the current page. Users who don't have the app open when you deploy will not not notice anything.

Your users will not be able to use the app until they have refreshed the page. As such, the timing of the deployment can matter. If possible, plan your deployments at a time when the usage of the app is low.

How to deploy

When the issue tracker is at zero and you are prepared to deploy, you can start the process. Deploying your app is instant for all practical purposes.

First, click the version control button in the upper right corner of the Bubble toolbar

The version control panel will open up.

Clicking the Deploy to live button will start the process of deploying. If there are any issues stopping your from deploying, you'll be notified at this point.

Lastly, you can give a description of the deployment to document the changes you've made:

This description will be saved along with the savepoint automatically. This way, if a deployment introduces any issues, you can revert back to an older version if needed.

Multiple branches and version control

If you work with a team or on a particularly complex app, you may be using Bubble's version control system to isolate specific features or projects while they're in development.

If this is the case, we recommend getting to know the version control system and best practices related to it before deploying.

Other ways to learn

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