Service types
Every service on Helicarrier Cloud has a type that determines how it runs, whether it gets a URL, and how it scales. Choose the type that matches what your code does.
A web service listens on a port and serves HTTP traffic. It gets a public generated hostname (and can have custom domains), sits behind automatic HTTPS, and is health-checked on every deploy. This is the default for apps and APIs.
Static
Section titled “Static”A static service serves prebuilt files — the output of a site generator or a front-end build. Helicarrier builds your project, takes the output directory, and serves it over an edge layer. Use it for marketing sites, docs, and single-page apps that do not need a running server.
Private
Section titled “Private”A private service is an internal-only web service. It runs and is reachable by other services in the project over the internal network, but it has no public domain. Use it for internal APIs and backends that only your other services should call.
Worker
Section titled “Worker”A worker is a long-running background process with no public port — queue consumers, schedulers, sync loops. It runs continuously like a web service but receives no HTTP traffic and gets no URL.
A cron service runs on a schedule and runs to completion, then exits until the next tick. You give it a standard 5-field crontab expression (or an alias like @daily). Each run’s output is captured, and overlapping runs are skipped so a long run never stacks on itself. Use it for nightly jobs, reports, and cleanups.
Function
Section titled “Function”A function is an HTTP service that scales to zero when idle and cold-starts on the first request. You set an idle timeout (from 30 seconds up to 24 hours; default 5 minutes). While idle it consumes no resources, which makes functions ideal for low-traffic endpoints and webhooks where paying to run 24/7 is wasteful.
Choosing at a glance
Section titled “Choosing at a glance”| If your code… | Use |
|---|---|
| Serves public HTTP | Web |
| Is prebuilt static files | Static |
| Serves HTTP only to other services | Private |
| Runs continuously with no HTTP | Worker |
| Runs on a schedule and exits | Cron |
| Serves HTTP but is often idle | Function |
- Configure the build and runtime in Build & runtime settings.
- For databases, see Provision a database instead — they are managed separately in the Hangar.