Render Has a Free API You Should Know About

#render #deployment #api #devops

Render is a cloud platform that deploys from Git — and its REST API gives you full control over your infrastructure.

The Management API

# List all services
curl "https://api.render.com/v1/services" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RENDER_API_KEY"

# Create a web service
curl -X POST "https://api.render.com/v1/services" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $RENDER_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "type": "web_service",
    "name": "my-api",
    "repo": "https://github.com/user/repo",
    "branch": "main",
    "runtime": "node",
    "buildCommand": "npm install && npm run build",
    "startCommand": "node dist/server.js",
    "plan": "starter",
    "region": "oregon"
  }'

Deploy Hook — CI/CD Integration

# Trigger deploy via webhook
curl -X POST "https://api.render.com/deploy/srv-xxx?key=yyy"

# Or from GitHub Actions
- name: Deploy to Render
  run: curl -X POST "$RENDER_DEPLOY_HOOK"

Blueprint — Infrastructure as Code

# render.yaml
services:
  - type: web
    name: api
    runtime: node
    plan: starter
    buildCommand: npm install && npm run build
    startCommand: node dist/server.js
    envVars:
      - key: DATABASE_URL
        fromDatabase:
          name: mydb
          property: connectionString
      - key: REDIS_URL
        fromService:
          name: cache
          type: redis
          property: connectionString

  - type: worker
    name: background-jobs
    runtime: node
    buildCommand: npm install && npm run build
    startCommand: node dist/worker.js

databases:
  - name: mydb
    plan: starter
    databaseName: myapp

Cron Jobs

# render.yaml
services:
  - type: cron
    name: daily-cleanup
    runtime: node
    schedule: "0 3 * * *"
    buildCommand: npm install
    startCommand: node scripts/cleanup.js

Real-World Use Case

A startup needed web service + database + Redis + cron job + background worker. AWS estimate: 3 days of CloudFormation + $150/month. Render: one render.yaml, git push, everything deployed in 10 minutes. Monthly cost: $25. When they needed to scale, they changed plan: starter to plan: standard and pushed.

Render is the cloud platform that respects your time.

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