9. Ship it

#Build

npm run build

tern build builds the client, compiles the server renderer to Go, and builds the server with all of it embedded: build/shelf, one file. It needs neither Node nor the project to run. Try it:

PORT=3000 ./build/shelf

Open http://localhost:3000. It starts on an empty shelf.db, applies both migrations, and serves the app, with pages rendered in Go and assets compressed and cached.

#Deploy

tern deploy builds the app for a server and puts it there over SSH. You need a Linux server with systemd, which most are, that you can reach as root or with sudo. Name it in tern.json, in the project:

{
  "deploy": {
    "production": {
      "provider": "ssh",
      "host": "root@203.0.113.5",
      "domains": ["shelf.example.com"]
    }
  }
}

Point the domain's DNS at the server, then:

go tool tern deploy

The first time, it creates a system user and a systemd service for the app. Every time, it builds for the server's architecture, uploads the binary as a new release, starts it next to the old one, and switches over once the new one is ready. If the new release fails to start, the old one keeps serving. With domains, the app serves HTTPS itself, with certificates from Let's Encrypt, so the server needs nothing else.

The app runs in /srv/shelf/shared, which stays the same across releases, so shelf.db is kept there.

• go tool tern deploy -logs follows the app's logs.
• go tool tern deploy -rollback goes back to the release before.
• Elsewhere: Deployment covers Fly.io, container registries, the Dockerfile the project came with, systemd by hand, and running behind a reverse proxy.

#What's next

You've built an app with pages and layouts, data from Go with generated types, a database with migrations, validated forms, accounts, and tests, and shipped it. Some ways to take Shelf further, and where to read about them:

• Fetch the page's title when a link is saved, in a background job, so saving stays instant.
• Tags, with a many-to-many table and a filter in the URL beside show.
• Sign in with a passkey, verify emails, and let users reset their passwords: Accounts.
• Live updates across a user's tabs and devices: Realtime.
• Translations of the interface: Translations.
• Let assistants use it: save links from Claude or ChatGPT, with tools that run as the user: Apps for assistants. The finished Shelf has them.

The guide covers all of Tern, and the finished Shelf is in examples/shelf.