You asked Cursor or Claude Code to build something, and it did fast. It runs on localhost:3000, it works, you're proud of it. Then you try to show someone else, and it doesn't exist for them. That gap from "works on my machine" to "works at a real URL" is where most vibe-coded projects die, not in the building.
This is the part nobody's AI assistant walks you through, because it isn't a coding problem. It's a hosting problem, and normally it means learning Docker, Linux, Nginx and DNS before you're allowed to ship anything.
Why "just deploy it" is harder than it sounds
Two paths people usually try first, and where they break:
- A managed PaaS (Heroku, Render, Vercel, Railway) works, but it's rented, not owned a monthly bill per project that adds up fast once you've shipped more than one or two things, and you're capped by whatever tier you're paying for.
- "Just get a VPS" is the advice you'll see everywhere, and it's right that a $5 server can run circles around what a PaaS charges you monthly for but "just" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. You still need Docker installed, a firewall configured, a reverse proxy for HTTPS, and a process that doesn't fall over the moment you close your terminal.
DeployOS exists for the space between those two: you keep the VPS (cheap, yours, unlimited apps on it), but none of the manual setup.
The actual path, start to finish
- Download DeployOS (free no card) and get any $5 VPS (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Contabo, whichever you already have an account with).
- Add the server. Paste its IP and an SSH key into the Add Server wizard. One pass installs Docker, a firewall, and a reverse proxy with automatic HTTPS about two minutes, no terminal.
- Connect GitHub and pick your repo (or point at a local folder if you haven't pushed yet). If there's no Dockerfile which most vibe-coded projects don't have DeployOS's Railpack build method detects the framework and builds it anyway.
- Deploy. You get a real HTTPS URL. If the app is listening on a different port than expected (a common vibe-coding gotcha the AI picks whatever port
express/next/vitedefaults to), DeployOS probes the container, finds the real port, and re-routes to it automatically instead of just failing.
That's a working app at a real domain. The next part is what makes this specifically useful if you build with an AI assistant.
Keep Cursor or Claude in the loop after it's live
DeployOS ships a local MCP server it runs right next to the app on your own machine, no extra install. Once you turn it on (Settings → AI assistant access, one toggle), the same chat window you used to build the app can also:
- Check why a deployed app is down and get a plain-English answer (it runs the same 9-step Doctor diagnostic the app itself uses DNS, ports, proxy, containers, TLS, logs)
- Read the app's real crash logs when something breaks
- Deploy the latest commit, or roll back to the last working build, without you leaving the conversation
Nothing about your server or SSH keys gets sent anywhere new to make this work the MCP server uses the exact same local credentials the desktop app already has, and everything past basic read access (deploying, rolling back, tearing down) is its own off-by-default toggle you turn on individually.
Read the full MCP setup guide for the exact config to paste into Cursor or Claude Code and the complete list of what it can do.
The point
Building the app was the part AI already solved for you. Shipping it shouldn't be the part that stops you. Connect a server, deploy from the repo you already have, and keep the same assistant you built it with around for when something breaks at 11pm.