Deploy Express

Express is the easy case. Write your routes, export the app, let Passenger run it. For the underlying tool, see Node.js.

Before you begin

A Node.js app created in cPanel.
The app root contains your Express project with package.json.

Wire up the export

Edit your entry file (default `app.js`)

app.js

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.use(express.json());

app.get('/health', (_req, res) => res.json({ ok: true }));

// your routes here

module.exports = app;

No app.listen(). Passenger handles that.

Install dependencies

Click Run NPM Install in the cPanel app management page.

Restart

Click Restart.

Use environment variables

Express reads from process.env. Add variables in the cPanel UI under Environment variables, then restart for them to take effect:

const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
const apiKey = process.env.STRIPE_SECRET;

Common issues

POST requests return an empty body

Add the JSON parser middleware: app.use(express.json()). For form data: app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: true })).

CORS errors from a frontend on a different domain

Install cors, mount before your routes:

const cors = require('cors');
app.use(cors({ origin: 'https://your-frontend.example' }));

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Open a ticket

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Before you begin

Wire up the export

Use environment variables

Common issues

Need a hand?

Open a ticket

Live chat

​Before you begin

​Wire up the export

​Use environment variables

​Common issues

​Need a hand?

Open a ticket

Live chat

Before you begin

Wire up the export

Use environment variables

Common issues

Need a hand?