Managing DigitalOcean App Platform

Manage DigitalOcean App Platform using the doctl apps CLI.

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always discover available resources before performing analysis.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Apps ==="
doctl apps list --format ID,Spec.Name,DefaultIngress,ActiveDeployment.Phase,Region,UpdatedAt --no-header 2>/dev/null | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== App Tiers ==="
doctl apps tier list --format Name,Slug,BuildSeconds,EgressBandwidthBytes --no-header 2>/dev/null | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== App Regions ==="
doctl apps region list --format Slug,Label,Default --no-header 2>/dev/null | head -10

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash

APP_ID="${1:?App ID required}"

echo "=== App Details ==="
doctl apps get "$APP_ID" --format ID,Spec.Name,DefaultIngress,ActiveDeployment.Phase,Region,CreatedAt,UpdatedAt --no-header 2>/dev/null

echo ""
echo "=== App Components ==="
doctl apps get "$APP_ID" -o json 2>/dev/null | jq '{
    services: [.spec.services[]? | {name, http_port, instance_count, instance_size_slug, source: (.github.repo // .git.repo_clone_url // "N/A")}],
    workers: [.spec.workers[]? | {name, instance_count, instance_size_slug}],
    static_sites: [.spec.static_sites[]? | {name, source: (.github.repo // "N/A")}],
    databases: [.spec.databases[]? | {name, engine, version, production}],
    jobs: [.spec.jobs[]? | {name, kind, instance_count}]
}' | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== Recent Deployments ==="
doctl apps list-deployments "$APP_ID" --format ID,Phase,Progress,CreatedAt,UpdatedAt --no-header 2>/dev/null | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== App Logs (Recent) ==="
doctl apps logs "$APP_ID" --type run --follow=false 2>/dev/null | tail -20

echo ""
echo "=== App Domains ==="
doctl apps list-domains "$APP_ID" --format ID,Spec.Domain,Phase --no-header 2>/dev/null | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Alerts ==="
doctl apps list-alerts "$APP_ID" --format ID,Spec.Rule,Spec.Disabled --no-header 2>/dev/null | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Deployment Details (Latest) ==="
DEPLOY_ID=$(doctl apps list-deployments "$APP_ID" --format ID --no-header 2>/dev/null | head -1)
if [ -n "$DEPLOY_ID" ]; then
    doctl apps get-deployment "$APP_ID" "$DEPLOY_ID" -o json 2>/dev/null | jq '{
        id, phase, progress,
        services: [.services[]? | {name, source_commit_hash: .source_commit_hash[:8]}],
        created_at, updated_at
    }'
fi

Output Format

APP_ID                                NAME        INGRESS                      PHASE    REGION
abc123-def456-ghi789                  my-app      my-app-abc12.ondigitalocean  ACTIVE   nyc

Safety Rules

• Use read-only commands: list, get, logs
• Never run delete, update, create without explicit user confirmation
• Use --format and --no-header for clean output
• Limit output with | head -N and | tail -N to stay under 50 lines

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative