Goblins

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Getting Started ​

This guide will help you get up and running with Goblins. You'll learn how to create your account, deploy your first service, and set up routing.

Creating Your Account ​

  1. Navigate to the Goblins login page
  2. Click Sign In to authenticate with your organization's SSO provider
  3. Once authenticated, you'll be taken to your dashboard

First-Time Users

When you first log in, Goblins automatically creates a default project, configuration, and secret for you. These defaults help you get started quickly.

Understanding the Dashboard ​

After logging in, you'll see the main dashboard with navigation tabs:

  • Services: Your deployed applications
  • Workers: Background job processors
  • Routes: Traffic routing rules
  • Domains: Your registered domain names
  • Configs: Application configuration
  • Secrets: Encrypted sensitive data

Projects ​

Projects help you organize your resources. All your services, routes, configs, and secrets belong to a project.

Switching Projects ​

Use the project selector in the top navigation to switch between projects. Your selected project filters all resources you see.

Creating a Project ​

  1. Go to Projects in the navigation
  2. Click Create Project
  3. Enter a name and optional description
  4. Click Create

Default Project

Every account has a default project that cannot be deleted. Use additional projects to organize different applications or environments.

Deploying Your First Service ​

Step 1: Prepare Your Docker Image ​

Before deploying, ensure your application is packaged as a Docker image and pushed to a container registry that Goblins can access.

Step 2: Create the Service ​

  1. Navigate to the Services tab
  2. Click Create Service
  3. Fill in the service details:
    • Name: A unique name for your service (e.g., my-api)
    • Image: Your Docker image (e.g., myregistry/my-api:v1.0.0)
    • Port: The port your application listens on (e.g., 8080)
    • Replicas: Number of instances to run (1-12)
    • Config: Select a configuration (use default if unsure)
    • Secret: Select a secret (use default if unsure)
  4. Click Create

Step 3: Monitor Deployment ​

After creating your service:

  • The status will show pending while deploying
  • Once deployed, the status changes to ready
  • The Replicas column shows running vs. target instances (e.g., 3/3)

Image Requirements

Use specific image tags (e.g., v1.0.0) instead of latest for reliable deployments and rollbacks.

Setting Up Routing ​

To expose your service to the internet, you need to configure a domain and route.

Step 1: Add a Domain ​

  1. Go to the Domains tab
  2. Click Add Domain
  3. Enter your domain hostname (e.g., api.example.com)
  4. Click Create

DNS Configuration

Make sure your domain's DNS is configured to point to the Goblins platform. Contact your administrator for the correct DNS settings.

Step 2: Create a Route ​

  1. Go to the Routes tab
  2. Click Create Route
  3. Configure the route:
    • Domain: Select your domain
    • Path: The URL path to match (e.g., / or /api)
    • Service: Select the service to route traffic to
    • Enabled: Toggle on to activate the route
  4. Click Create

Once the route is created and enabled, traffic to your domain will be routed to your service.

Managing Configuration ​

Configs store key-value pairs that your services can access as environment variables.

Adding Config Items ​

  1. Go to the Configs tab
  2. Click on a config to manage its items
  3. Click Add Item
  4. Enter a Key (e.g., DATABASE_URL) and Value
  5. Click Save

When to Use Configs

Use configs for non-sensitive settings like:

  • API endpoints
  • Feature flags
  • Environment names

Managing Secrets ​

Secrets work like configs but are encrypted and designed for sensitive data.

Adding Secret Items ​

  1. Go to the Secrets tab
  2. Click on a secret to manage its items
  3. Click Add Item
  4. Enter a Key (e.g., API_KEY) and Value
  5. Click Save

Security

Secret values are encrypted at rest. Only store sensitive data in secrets, not in configs.

Viewing Deployments ​

Every time you update a service, a deployment record is created.

Viewing Deployment History ​

  1. Navigate to a service
  2. Click Deployments or View History
  3. See all past deployments with their status, timestamp, and changes

Rolling Back ​

If a deployment causes issues:

  1. Find a previous successful deployment in the history
  2. Click Rollback
  3. Confirm the rollback

This creates a new deployment with the previous configuration.

Resource Quotas ​

Your account has limits on resources you can create:

  • Services: Maximum number of services (includes workers)
  • Replicas: Maximum total replicas across all services

You can see your current usage and limits in the dashboard. If you need higher limits, contact your administrator.

API Access ​

For automation and CI/CD integration, you can access all Goblins functionality through the API.

Creating an API Key ​

  1. Go to API Keys in your account settings
  2. Click Create API Key
  3. Give it a descriptive name (e.g., CI/CD Pipeline)
  4. Copy and securely store the key (it won't be shown again)

Using the API ​

Include your API key in requests:

bash
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer gob_your_api_key_here" \
  https://api.goblins.example.com/api/services/

See the API Reference for complete documentation.

Next Steps ​

Goblins Platform Documentation