doctl-apps

Create an app

$ doctl [[a|apps]] [[c|create]]

$ doctl [[a|apps]] [[cd|create-deployment]] [app_id]

$ doctl [[a|apps]] [[d|delete]] [app_id]

$ doctl [[a|apps]] [[g|get]]

$ doctl [[a|apps]] [[ls|list]]

$ doctl [[a|apps]] [[lsd|list-deployments]] [app_id]

$ doctl [[a|apps]] [[l|logs]] [app_id]

$ doctl [[a|apps]] [[u|update]] [app_id] --spec [path/to/spec.yml]

doctl apps [flags] <subcommand> [<subcommand-flags>]

--format string, -f string
    Output format: json, yaml, table (default "table")

--help, -h
    Show help for apps

--access-token string, -t string
    API access token (global flag)

--context-name string, -c string
    Config context name (global flag)

--verbose, -v
    Enable verbose logging (global flag)

doctl apps is a subcommand of the DigitalOcean CLI tool doctl, designed for managing applications on DigitalOcean's App Platform—a fully managed PaaS for deploying static sites, APIs, and full-stack apps from Git repositories, Dockerfiles, or container images.

It provides commands to create, list, update, deploy, delete, and monitor apps without needing to handle servers, load balancers, or databases manually. App Platform auto-scales, handles SSL, and integrates with DO managed databases.

Key workflows include generating app specs from source code, deploying via CI/CD, viewing real-time logs, and waiting for deployments to complete. Output supports JSON, YAML, or table formats for automation and scripting. Requires doctl authentication via API token.

Ideal for developers migrating from Heroku or Vercel, it simplifies serverless-like deployments with DO's infrastructure.

Requires DigitalOcean API token; App Platform incurs usage-based costs; limited to DO regions with App support; spec files must conform to DO schema.

create - Create app from spec
delete - Delete app
deploy - Trigger deployment
get - Get app details
list - List apps
logs - Fetch app/component logs
update - Update app spec
wait - Block until desired state

doctl apps create myapp --spec ./app.yaml
doctl apps list --format json
doctl apps logs <app-id> <component>

doctl launched in 2017 for DO API. Apps subcommand added in v1.42.0 (2020) with App Platform beta; expanded in v1.50+ for GA features like logs and deploys.

doctl(1), kubectl(1)