Deploy a Create React App build to your own VPS

To deploy a Create React App to a VPS with ox, add the repo as a project and deploy it, with no Dockerfile and no ox.toml. ox reads package.json, runs npm install and npm run build, and Caddy serves build over HTTPS with no app process. Run ox check in your repo to see the same plan before the first deploy.

Plan verified, real-server test pending. The plan below is what ox check prints for a minimal Create React App repo in ox's tests. A deploy on a real server is not recorded yet.

What ox detects in a Create React App repo

This is the plan ox check prints for a minimal a Create React App project, with no ox.toml. Each row says where its value came from: a file in the repo, or ox's default.

The ox.toml for Create React App

None is needed: the plan above comes from the repo alone. Write one to serve your own domain or to change what ox detected. This one passes ox check against the same repo: [static] needs its dir, and the build stays detected.

domains = ["www.example.com"]

[static]
dir = "build"

Check and deploy Create React App

Add the repo as a project, then check and ship it from a terminal:

ox check                                # in the repo: the plan above, offline
ox new <owner/repo> --server <server>  # add the repo as a project
ox deploy <project> --wait              # stream the deploy, exit with its result
ox runs <project>                      # past deploys, with their ids
ox logs <project> --run <id>         # one deploy's log

A static site has no app process, so its log is the deploy's own: ox runs lists them and --run reads one.

Variables to set for Create React App

None before the first deploy: ox check asks for no variable. Add your own on the dashboard's Variables tab or with ox vars set <project> KEY.

ox provides these to the app itself: PORT, HOST, OX_ENV, OX_PROJECT, OX_RELEASE, OX_DATA_DIR, PUBLIC_URL and PUBLIC_HOST.

If the Create React App deploy fails

• build 1/1: npm run build: exit status 1: Your build failed. The lines above it are the build's own output; run the same command on your computer, fix it, and push. More.
• the build left no dist directory: The build wrote its files somewhere else. Set [static] dir to the folder your build makes. More.
• package.json's start script (vite) runs a development server, not a production one; set [app] start to the command that serves the built app: ox never runs a development server in production. Remove the start script, or point it at the built app. More.

Your visitors never see a failed deploy: the previous release keeps serving until the new one passes its health check.

Next steps

• The static site guide: Vite, Astro and plain HTML with a full ox.toml.
• The [static] keys: the folder Caddy serves, single-page mode and an API beside it.
• Add a custom domain with one A record; Caddy gets the HTTPS certificate.
• Roll back to an earlier release without a rebuild.

Create React App FAQ

Do I need a Dockerfile or an ox.toml to deploy a Create React App to a VPS?

No. ox does not use Docker, and ox check on a Create React App repo with no ox.toml prints Ready to deploy. Write an ox.toml only to change what ox detected.

What does ox install on the server for Create React App?

Only what the plan names: node 24 (ox's default). Your app's own dependencies are installed by the build into the release folder, not system-wide.

Does ox run react-scripts start?

No. react-scripts start is a development server, and ox never runs one in production. ox runs your build script and serves the build folder as files.

Related guides

• Vue CLIDeploy a Vue CLI app to your own VPS: ox installs from yarn.lock, runs your build, and Caddy serves dist over HTTPS. The plan comes from the repo alone.
• AngularDeploy an Angular single-page app to your own VPS: ox reads the output folder from angular.json, runs ng build, and Caddy serves it, with no Docker.

Every stack ox deploys, and the ones it does not yet, is on the Stacks page.