Getting Started
Introduction to Prism
Prism is an open-source developer platform for building, deploying, and monitoring distributed applications. This guide will get you up and running in minutes.
Prerequisites: Prism requires Node.js 20+ or Go 1.22+. Docker is recommended for local development.
What is Prism?
Prism provides a unified interface for managing infrastructure, observability, and deployments. It's designed to be incrementally adoptable — you can start with just the CLI and add features as your needs grow.
At its core, Prism consists of three components:
- Prism Agent — Lightweight daemon that runs on each node
- Prism Control Plane — Central coordination service and API
- Prism CLI — Command-line interface for developers and operators
Quick Install
The fastest way to get started is using the official install script:
# Install the Prism CLI
curl -sSL https://get.prism.dev | bash
# Verify installation
prism --version
# prism version 3.2.1 (darwin/arm64)
Your First Project
Create a new project with the prism init command. This scaffolds a project directory with a prism.config.ts file and example services.
// prism.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from "prism";
export default defineConfig({
project: "my-app",
region: "us-east-1",
services: [
{
name: "api",
runtime: "node20",
port: 3000,
healthCheck: "/health",
},
{
name: "worker",
runtime: "go1.22",
replicas: 2,
},
],
});
Note: The region field must match an available Prism region. Run prism regions list to see all available regions.
Deploy your project
Once configured, deploy with a single command:
prism deploy
# Output:
# ✓ Building services... (12s)
# ✓ Pushing images... (8s)
# ✓ Deploying api → https://api.my-app.prism.run
# ✓ Deploying worker → healthy (2/2 replicas)