Features¶

Hop3 is an open-source Platform as a Service (PaaS) for deploying and managing web applications on a single server.

Core Features¶

Multi-Language Support¶

Deploy applications in any popular programming language:

Git-Based Deployment¶

Push to deploy with simple Git workflows:

# Deploy the current project from your local directory
hop3 deploy --app myapp

# Or enable git-push deployment, then push to the hop3 remote
hop3 git setup --app myapp
git remote add hop3 hop3@your-server:myapp
git push hop3 main

Addons¶

Managed backing services with automatic connection configuration:

• PostgreSQL - Full-featured relational database
• MySQL/MariaDB - Popular relational database
• Redis - In-memory data store and cache
• S3/MinIO - Object storage

hop3 addon create postgres mydb
hop3 addon attach mydb --app myapp
# DATABASE_URL automatically injected

Automatic SSL/TLS¶

Free SSL certificates via Let's Encrypt with automatic renewal:

• Automatic provisioning when HOST_NAME is configured
• Automatic renewal before expiration
• Support for custom certificates

Reverse Proxy¶

Automatic Nginx configuration for each application:

• HTTP/HTTPS routing
• WebSocket support
• Custom domain support
• Load balancing (multiple workers)

Process Management¶

Robust process management via uWSGI:

• Declarative worker configuration via [run.workers] in hop3.toml
• Automatic restart on failure
• Graceful shutdown and reload
• Multiple worker processes

Environment Configuration¶

Flexible configuration management:

hop3 env set --app myapp KEY=value
hop3 env show --app myapp

CLI Interface¶

Full-featured command-line interface:

hop3 app list                      # List applications
hop3 app status --app myapp    # Application details
hop3 app logs --app myapp      # View logs
hop3 app restart --app myapp   # Restart application

Web Dashboard¶

Browser-based management interface:

• Application overview and status
• Real-time log viewing
• System health monitoring
• User authentication

Application Configuration¶

hop3.toml¶

Declarative application configuration:

[metadata]
id = "myapp"

[build]
before-build = ["npm install"]
build = "npm run build"

[run]
start = "npm start"

[env]
NODE_ENV = "production"

[[addons]]
type = "postgres"

See the Configuration Reference for full documentation.

Infrastructure¶

Supported Operating Systems¶

• Debian 12 (Bookworm) - Recommended
• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, 26.04 LTS
• Rocky Linux 9
• NixOS (experimental — via the Nix flake / services.hop3 module)

On the distros above, hop3-server is installed by the standard installer; on NixOS it is deployed via the Nix flake and the services.hop3 NixOS module. (Separately, the Nix package manager is also available as an app builder on any supported host.)

Single-Server Architecture¶

Hop3 is designed for single-server deployments:

• Simple installation and maintenance
• All components on one machine
• Ideal for small to medium workloads
• No Kubernetes or Docker required for production

Plugin Architecture¶

Extensible via plugins:

• Builders: Local (native toolchains), Docker, Nix
• Toolchains: Language-specific build tools
• Deployers: uWSGI, Docker Compose, Static
• Proxies: Nginx (default), Caddy, Traefik
• Addons: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, S3/MinIO

Security¶

Authentication¶

• JWT-based API authentication
• Session-based web authentication
• API token generation for automation

Application Isolation¶

• Separate directories per application
• Isolated virtual environments
• Dedicated database credentials
• Process isolation via uWSGI

Network Security¶

• Automatic SSL/TLS encryption
• Firewall-friendly (ports 80/443)
• Database connections over localhost

Web Application Firewall (WAF)¶

• Per-app Layer-7 WAF (LeWAF, OWASP Core Rule Set) — nginx → WAF proxy → app
• Blocks SQLi / XSS / RCE / path-traversal before requests reach the app
• Positive-model access lists and network-gated paths, configured via [waf] in hop3.toml
• Auto-bans repeat offenders (reconciled in-process); fails closed if the proxy is down

Operational Features¶

Health Checks¶

hop3 system status

Checks: - Core services (hop3-server, nginx, uwsgi) - Database addons - Disk space - SSL certificates

Backup & Restore¶

hop3 backup create --app myapp
hop3 backup list
hop3 backup restore <backup-id> --target-app myapp

Logging¶

hop3 app logs --app myapp
hop3 system logs

Roadmap Features¶

The following features are planned for future releases:

Comparison¶

vs Heroku¶

• Self-hosted: Full control over infrastructure
• No vendor lock-in: Open source, run anywhere
• Cost: Free software, pay only for hosting
• Similar DX: Git push deployment, addons, environment config

vs Dokku¶

• Modern stack: Python-based, Litestar framework
• Plugin system: Pluggy-based extensibility
• Web UI: Built-in dashboard
• Database: SQLAlchemy ORM for metadata

vs Kubernetes¶

• Simplicity: Single server, no orchestration complexity
• Target: Small to medium deployments
• Learning curve: Deploy in minutes
• Resource efficient: No cluster overhead