How to publish a web app

In TeleportHQ, you publish a web app (a project with sign-up and login, a database, workflows, a store, online bookings or a blog) the same way as a website: click Publish, then Publish to Production. Each web app needs a Web App slot to stay online. A web app without a slot can still publish, with a TeleportHQ watermark, for 7 days. After that, publishing is blocked until you buy or assign a slot.

Before you start#

• Web App slots. Trial and Premium include 1 Web App slot. Pro includes none, so a web app on Pro needs a slot you buy, or an upgrade to Premium. See Why does my web app need a slot, and what is the 7-day window?.
• Role. You need the Owner, Admin or Designer role.
• No code download. Web apps can't be downloaded as code, so the Code button and the Code and Download tabs are hidden for them. Publishing on TeleportHQ is how a web app goes live.

Steps#

1. Open your web app in the editor.
2. At the top right, click Publish. The Publish window opens on the Publish tab.
3. In the window's left menu, make sure Publish is selected. At the top, keep Production selected.
4. At the bottom, click Publish to Production.

5. Wait while the progress bar next to the button goes through its steps, until the message "Your application is ready at: https://…" appears. A large web app, such as a store with its admin panel, can take several minutes.
6. If your web app has an admin panel, find Admin panel is included under the address at the top of the window. Once a custom domain is connected, it sits under the custom domain instead. Click its link (your address followed by /admin/dashboard) to manage your content on the live site.

Check that it worked#

The status next to the address says Published. Open the address: your web app loads and visitors can sign up, log in or use its features. If the web app isn't covered by a slot, the live site shows a TeleportHQ watermark.

Stores and booking sites: connect your payment webhooks#

When your web app is a store, a production publish also sets up the Stripe and PayPal payment webhooks for you, so paid orders are marked as paid. You see a message such as "Stripe's webhook is connected: orders paid with Stripe are confirmed automatically."

Other providers, such as Square, Paddle or Razorpay, need one more step, and so does a Stripe or PayPal webhook that couldn't connect itself. After the publish, the Publish window then shows Connect your payment webhooks ("Your store is live. … needs a webhook to tell it that a payment went through: until then, orders paid there stay pending."). A booking site that takes online payments, with or without a store, can show the same box. Click Connect followed by the provider's name: the window closes and the provider's settings open on their webhook section, in the E-Commerce panel, or in the Bookings panel for a booking site without a store. See How to set up the payment webhook (so orders are marked paid).

What happens without a Web App slot#

While a web app isn't covered by a slot, the editor shows a banner that starts: "This web app has full access — including publishing with a TeleportHQ watermark — but needs its own subscription to keep it." After you close it, an orange warning icon stays in the header.

• Days 1 to 7: you can edit, preview and publish (with the watermark), and workflows run.
• After day 7: the site goes offline and the project is archived. Publishing is blocked.
• After that: the project stays archived until a slot is assigned to it. It's never deleted.

To keep the web app, click Subscribe project in the banner. Depending on your plan, you see Buy a Web App slot, Upgrade to Premium or buy a slot, Upgrade to keep building or Build this in a Premium workspace. See How to buy, assign or cancel a web app slot.

After you buy a slot, TeleportHQ publishes a previously published web app again, without the watermark.

Troubleshooting#

"Publishing is blocked: this web app is over your team’s Web App quota. Buy a Web App slot to publish and run it." The 7-day window is over and the web app has no slot. Buy a slot or assign a free one, then publish again.

"Resolve the critical security violations before publishing." A workflow has a serious security issue. Fix it in the window that opens. See Why does my workflow show missing configuration or security warnings?.

Other publishing errors See Publishing failed: what should I do?.

Good to know#

• After publishing, the Publish window lists what visitors would run into, such as features that aren't set up yet. See What should I check after publishing my site?.
• Custom domains: each Web App slot you buy adds 1 custom domain slot to the workspace. The slot included with Trial and Premium doesn't add one. See How many custom domains can I connect?.
• Installable app: a web app can also be installed on visitors' phones, with the folded Installable app option in the Publish window. Checkout, account and admin pages always load live. See How to make your site installable as an app (PWA).
• Your own Vercel account isn't available for web apps. If a website becomes a web app, the Vercel switch disappears from the Publish tab.
• Trial and subscription endings take every site in the workspace offline. See What happens when my trial or subscription ends?.