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Deployment

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This feature is available on the Scale plan.

Deploy the EventCatalog Slack Bot to your infrastructure. The bot uses Socket Mode, so it maintains an outbound connection to Slack without requiring a public URL, load balancer, or SSL certificates.

Docker​

The simplest way to deploy is using Docker. The bot includes a Dockerfile and docker-compose configuration.

Build the image​

docker build -t eventcatalog-slack-bot .

Run with docker-compose​

docker compose up -d

View logs​

docker compose logs -f

The docker-compose.yml file mounts your config and reads environment variables from .env:

services:
  eventcatalog-slack-bot:
    build: .
    container_name: eventcatalog-slack-bot
    restart: unless-stopped
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ./eventcatalog-bot.config.ts:/app/eventcatalog-bot.config.ts:ro
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production

Docker networking​

When running the bot in Docker, the container needs network access to your EventCatalog server. Configuration depends on where EventCatalog runs.

EventCatalog on localhost​

Docker containers cannot use localhost to reach the host machine. Use one of these approaches:

Option 1: Use host.docker.internal (recommended)

Update your config to use the special Docker hostname:

eventCatalog: {
  url: 'http://host.docker.internal:3000',
}
info

Your EventCatalog server must bind to all interfaces (0.0.0.0), not just localhost. Check your EventCatalog startup logs. If it shows localhost:3000, you may need to start it with a --host 0.0.0.0 flag.

Option 2: Run the bot outside Docker

For local development, skip Docker and run the bot directly:

npm install
npm run dev

This avoids networking complexity during development.

EventCatalog in Docker​

Put both containers on the same Docker network and use the container name as hostname:

services:
  eventcatalog:
    # your EventCatalog config
    networks:
      - app-network

  eventcatalog-slack-bot:
    build: .
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - ./eventcatalog-bot.config.ts:/app/eventcatalog-bot.config.ts:ro
    networks:
      - app-network

networks:
  app-network:

Configure the bot to use the container name:

eventCatalog: {
  url: 'http://eventcatalog:3000',
}

EventCatalog at public URL​

Use the public URL directly - no special configuration needed:

eventCatalog: {
  url: 'https://your-catalog.example.com',
}

Other deployment options​

Railway

Railway automatically detects the Dockerfile and deploys the bot.

  1. Create a new project and connect your repository
  2. Add environment variables in the Railway dashboard:
    • EVENTCATALOG_SCALE_LICENSE_KEY
    • SLACK_BOT_TOKEN
    • SLACK_APP_TOKEN
    • SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET
    • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY (or your chosen provider)
  3. Add your eventcatalog-bot.config.ts to the repository
  4. Deploy - Railway detects the Dockerfile automatically
Fly.io

Deploy to Fly.io using their CLI.

Initialize:

fly launch --no-deploy

Set secrets:

fly secrets set EVENTCATALOG_SCALE_LICENSE_KEY=your-key
fly secrets set SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
fly secrets set SLACK_APP_TOKEN=xapp-...
fly secrets set SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET=...
fly secrets set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

Deploy:

fly deploy
Render

Deploy as a Background Worker on Render.

  1. Create a new Background Worker (not a Web Service)
  2. Connect your repository
  3. Set the build and start commands:
  • Build command: npm install && npm run build
  • Start command: npm start
  1. Add environment variables in the Render dashboard
  2. Deploy
AWS, GCP, or Azure

Deploy as a container or long-running process. The bot requires:

  • Outbound HTTPS/WSS connections to Slack
  • No inbound connections (Socket Mode handles communication)
  • No load balancers or public endpoints needed

Suitable services include:

  • AWS: ECS, EKS, EC2
  • GCP: Cloud Run (always running), GKE, Compute Engine
  • Azure: Container Instances, AKS, Virtual Machines

Ensure the process stays running and can make outbound connections to:

  • slack.com (Socket Mode connection)
  • Your EventCatalog instance
  • Your AI provider API