Git push to deploy

How it works

You connect one GitHub repository and branch to a website, or to a Python app. When you push, GitHub calls a signed webhook, your server pulls that commit and copies it into place, and the site cache is purged (or the Python app restarts). A typical deploy takes a few seconds and is logged with its commit, who pushed it and how long it took.

• Included on every plan. Preview sites at once: 1 on Launch, 3 on Pro, 10 on Studio.
• Public repositories need nothing else. Private ones need a read-only GitHub token.
• Links, the .git folder and .github workflows are never copied. Repositories up to 1 GB.

Connect a repository

1. Open Git deploy

   Dashboard → Manage on the site → the Git deploy tile. For a Python app: Python apps → Git deploy next to the app.

2. Enter the repository

   Paste the GitHub address (https://github.com/you/your-site) or just you/your-site, and the branch that should go live, usually main.

3. Choose where it goes

   Deploy into a folder such as wp-content/themes/my-theme, or leave it blank for the whole site.

4. Private repository?

   On GitHub open Settings → Developer settings → Fine-grained tokens, give the token this one repository with Contents: Read-only, and paste it. It is stored encrypted and only handed to your server while a deploy runs.

5. Connect

   Keep Deploy right away ticked to pull the branch once immediately.

Add the webhook on GitHub

1. Copy the details

   The Git deploy page shows a Payload URL and a Secret (use Copy).

2. Add the webhook

   On GitHub: the repository → Settings → Webhooks → Add webhook. Paste the Payload URL, set Content type to application/json, paste the Secret.

3. Pick the events

   Choose Let me select individual events and tick Pushes and Branch or tag deletion. Save. GitHub sends a test ping and shows a green tick when the address and secret match.

What a deploy changes

• Into a folder: the folder becomes an exact copy of the repository, so files you delete from the repository are removed there too. Server-managed files inside it (uploads, caches, the ServerBorn must-use plugins) are kept.
• Whole site: files from the repository are added and updated, nothing else is deleted, and the site's own wp-config.php, .htaccess and uploads are never replaced.
• Python app: the app folder becomes a copy of the repository. It needs a main.py with an ASGI app (FastAPI, Starlette). A requirements.txt is installed, then the app restarts.

Preview sites for branches

With previews on, pushing any branch other than your live branch builds a preview: a copy of the live site at its own address, like pr-7be31f02.serverborn.com, with that branch deployed on top. Later pushes to the branch update the same preview.

• Previews have their own database tables, are hidden from search engines and are never edge cached.
• A preview is removed when you delete the branch on GitHub, after 14 days without a push, or with Remove on the Git deploy page.
• When all previews of your plan are in use, new branches wait until one is removed.

If something is off

• The GitHub webhook shows a red cross: the Secret does not match. Copy it again, or press New webhook secret and paste the new one on GitHub.
• "could not fetch the repository": the repository is private and no token is saved, the token expired, or it lacks Contents: Read-only for this repository.
• "that folder holds files the server manages": deploy into a theme or plugin folder rather than wp-content/uploads or a cache folder.
• Changes do not show: press Deploy now and check the log; for CSS and JS, a hard refresh in the browser clears its cache.