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ForgeVPS

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Find your way around

Learn what ForgeVPS does, what each tab is for, and how the different parts of your workspace fit together.

Connect or install ForgeVPS

Choose hosted or self-hosted, connect your machine, and open your first workspace.

Use the Dashboard

Check the machine you are working on, understand its resource readings, and find your next step.

Browse and edit files

Find your project, edit and save code, search files, and understand the Workspace and Git controls.

Use the Terminal

Run commands on your machine, keep separate tasks in tabs, and return to sessions you left open.

Use the Servers tab

Add an app, choose development or production, and use the list and detail controls to keep it running.

Deploy from GitHub

Connect a repository, follow its build, and publish later changes by pushing to the selected branch.

Give your app a web address

Point a domain at your machine, choose the app it should open, and check that HTTPS is working.

Use the Databases tab

Create a PostgreSQL database, open tables, edit rows, run a query, and connect your application.

Import a Supabase database

Copy selected application schemas into a new local database, verify the result, and switch your app deliberately.

Back up and restore a database

Use the Backups dialog to save a recovery point, download a copy, and restore when you need to.

Work with an agent

Give your agent a reliable starting point without handing over credentials or changing your project's instructions.

Technical reference

Understand the panel, managed processes, workspace files, and the boundary between ForgeVPS and your applications.

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Docs/Give your app a web address

Give your app a web address

Point a domain at your machine, choose the app it should open, and check that HTTPS is working.

Hosted & self-hostedReviewed 2026-09-29Read as Markdown ↗
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Start with a working application

A domain is a readable address for an application, such as app.example.com. First start the application in Servers and check its Logs. Adding a domain does not install the app or repair a process that is not running.

ForgeVPS configures the machine to route the address to your application. Your domain’s DNS records are managed separately at your domain or DNS provider.

Add the address in ForgeVPS

  1. Open Domains for the machine and choose the application you want the address to serve, or open that server’s Domains tab.
  2. Choose Add domain and enter the hostname, such as app.example.com.
  3. Read the DNS record shown in the dialog. It gives you the record type, name, and machine address.
  4. Keep the dialog available while you add the record at your DNS provider.

Use the exact hostname you want visitors to open. example.com and www.example.com are separate names; configuring one does not automatically mean both are routed to the app.

Add and check the DNS record

  1. Open your DNS provider’s settings for the domain.
  2. Create the A record shown by ForgeVPS, using the indicated Name and the machine’s public IPv4 as the Value.
  3. Save the record, return to ForgeVPS, and choose Check DNS.
  4. When it reports that the name resolves to this machine, finish adding the domain.

If the dialog says Points at another address, check the existing record. If it says No A record found yet, check the record name and allow time for the DNS change to appear. The dialog can save the address before DNS is ready; HTTPS setup retries as DNS becomes available.

Open the application over HTTPS

ForgeVPS uses Caddy on the machine to obtain and renew HTTPS certificates. Once DNS points at the machine and ports 80 and 443 are reachable, open the domain with https:// and check the application.

A certificate can take time to become available. If the app still does not open, check the provider’s firewall as well as the machine’s networking. A successful DNS check proves where the name points, not that the application itself is healthy.

Use the machine’s IP address instead

Where the server’s Domains view offers IP HTTPS, you can use the machine’s public IPv4 without registering a domain. Follow Enable HTTPS on this IP. Ports 80 and 443 must be reachable, and only one application can use the bare IP address at a time.

The public application address is separate from a self-hosted panel’s own sign-in address. Check which application or panel you are configuring before changing a route.

Change or remove an address

Removing a domain in ForgeVPS stops that route from serving the application. It does not remove DNS records at your provider. If you are moving an address, check both the ForgeVPS route and the DNS destination.

After connecting a domain, ForgeVPS removes its managed direct-access firewall rule for the app port. A direct IP:port preview may therefore stop working while the HTTPS domain continues to work. Use the domain as the application’s public address.