Static Sites

Deploy static websites, documentation sites, and Single Page Applications (SPAs) with Senate.

Quick Deploy with Nginx

Create service

Go to Services → New Service

Enter service name: my-website and click Create

Configure source

Go to the Source tab
Select Docker Image as source type
Enter image: nginx:alpine
Click Save

Add your site

Mount your static files:

Host Path	Container Path
`/path/to/site`	`/usr/share/nginx/html:ro`

Add domain

Add your domain in the Domains tab.

Deploy

Click Create to deploy.

Pre-built Static Images

Build your own image

Create a Dockerfile:

FROM nginx:alpine
COPY ./dist /usr/share/nginx/html
COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf

Build and push:

docker build -t myuser/mysite:latest .
docker push myuser/mysite:latest

Then deploy with the image myuser/mysite:latest.

SPA Configuration

Single Page Applications need special routing:

Nginx config for SPAs

Create nginx.conf:

server {
    listen 80;
    root /usr/share/nginx/html;
    index index.html;
    
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
    }
    
    # Cache static assets
    location ~* \.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg|woff2?)$ {
        expires 1y;
        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
    }
}

Dockerfile for SPAs

FROM nginx:alpine
COPY dist/ /usr/share/nginx/html/
COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
EXPOSE 80

Framework Examples

React (Vite)

# Build stage
FROM node:20-alpine as build
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

# Serve stage
FROM nginx:alpine
COPY --from=build /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html
COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf

Vue

FROM node:20-alpine as build
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

FROM nginx:alpine
COPY --from=build /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html
COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf

Next.js (Static Export)

For next export:

FROM node:20-alpine as build
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

FROM nginx:alpine
COPY --from=build /app/out /usr/share/nginx/html
COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf

Astro

FROM node:20-alpine as build
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run build

FROM nginx:alpine
COPY --from=build /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html

Alternative: Caddy

Caddy has simpler config and automatic HTTPS:

Caddyfile

:80 {
    root * /srv
    file_server
    try_files {path} /index.html
}

Dockerfile with Caddy

FROM caddy:alpine
COPY dist/ /srv/
COPY Caddyfile /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Compression

Enable gzip compression:

Nginx

gzip on;
gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript text/xml application/xml;
gzip_min_length 1000;

Caddy

Caddy enables compression by default with encode:

:80 {
    root * /srv
    encode gzip
    file_server
}

Security Headers

Add security headers in nginx:

add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;
add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always;

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

name: Deploy Static Site

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
      
      - name: Install and build
        run: |
          npm ci
          npm run build
      
      - name: Build and push image
        run: |
          docker build -t myuser/mysite:${{ github.sha }} .
          docker push myuser/mysite:${{ github.sha }}
      
      - name: Deploy to Senate
        run: curl "${{ secrets.SENATE_WEBHOOK }}

Documentation Sites

VitePress

FROM node:20-alpine as build
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
RUN npm ci && npm run docs:build

FROM nginx:alpine
COPY --from=build /app/docs/.vitepress/dist /usr/share/nginx/html

Docusaurus

FROM node:20-alpine as build
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
RUN npm ci && npm run build

FROM nginx:alpine
COPY --from=build /app/build /usr/share/nginx/html

Performance Tips

Enable caching: Set long cache headers for static assets
Use CDN: Put Cloudflare or similar in front
Optimize images: Use WebP, proper sizing
Minimize bundles: Code split, tree shake
Preload critical assets: Use <link rel="preload">

CI/CD Integration - Automate deployments
Domains - Custom domains

Static Sites

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