DigitalFrontier Core Quick Start

Core is in preview. The CLI is not published yet — neither the Homebrew formula nor an installer script exists, so the commands below describe the intended flow rather than one you can run today. Talk to us if you want access while Core is in preview.

Do not run the install commands below yet. These package names are not reserved, so anything currently published under them is not ours. They document the intended flow; we will announce when they are real.

Prerequisites

• A Digital Frontier account
• Core CLI access (see the note above)

Installation

Once the CLI ships, installation will be a single command:

macOS

brew install df-core

Linux

curl -fsSL https://get.digitalfrontier.so/core | sh

Verify Installation

core --version

Initialize Your Project

Create a new project directory:

mkdir my-app && cd my-app
core init

This creates a basic compose.yaml file.

Your First Service

Edit compose.yaml to define a simple web service:

version: "0.2"

services:
  web:
    image: nginx:latest
    cpu: 1
    memory: "2Gi"
    replicas: 2

    network:
      ingress:
        expose:
          - port: 80
            protocol: http

Validate Your Configuration

Check for errors:

core validate

You should see:

✓ Schema validation passed
✓ Feature validation passed
✓ No compliance issues

Preview the Deployment

See what will be deployed:

core plan

Output:

⚙ Running core plan...

Provider Selection:
  Primary: GCP (cost-optimized)
  Fallback: [Akash, DFC]

Resources:
  ✓ Service: web (2 replicas)
  ✓ Load Balancer: HTTP (port 80)
  ✓ Auto-scaling: disabled

Estimated Cost: $12/month ± 10%

✓ Plan successful

Deploy

Apply your configuration:

core apply

Output:

⚙ Deploying...
  ✓ Creating service: web
  ✓ Provisioning load balancer
  ✓ Starting replicas (2/2)

✅ Deployment successful

Service URL: http://web-a3d5.df.app
Console: https://console.akash.network/

Deployments are visible in the official Akash Console — select your Digital Frontier provider when choosing where to run.

Check Status

View your deployment:

core status

Update Your Service

Let's add HTTPS and autoscaling. Edit compose.yaml:

version: "0.2"

services:
  web:
    image: nginx:latest
    cpu: 1
    memory: "2Gi"

    # Add autoscaling
    autoscaling:
      enabled: true
      min_replicas: 2
      max_replicas: 10
      target_cpu_percent: 70

    network:
      ingress:
        expose:
          - port: 443
            protocol: https
            tls:
              auto: true  # Automatic TLS certificates

Apply the changes:

core apply

DigitalFrontier Core will:

1. Provision TLS certificates automatically
2. Update the load balancer to HTTPS
3. Enable autoscaling (2-10 replicas)

Add a Database

Let's add a PostgreSQL database. Update compose.yaml:

version: "0.2"

services:
  web:
    image: nginx:latest
    cpu: 1
    memory: "2Gi"
    autoscaling:
      enabled: true
      min_replicas: 2
      max_replicas: 10
      target_cpu_percent: 70
    network:
      ingress:
        expose:
          - port: 443
            protocol: https
            tls:
              auto: true
    # Reference database credentials
    secrets:
      - secret_ref: db-credentials
        mode: env
        keys:
          host: DB_HOST
          username: DB_USER
          password: DB_PASSWORD

  db:
    image: postgres:15
    cpu: 2
    memory: "4Gi"
    replicas: 1
    storage:
      - mount_path: /var/lib/postgresql/data
        size: "50Gi"
        persistent: true
    network:
      ingress:
        expose:
          - port: 5432
            protocol: tcp
            internal_only: true  # Not exposed to internet

Create the database secret:

core secrets create db-credentials \
  --type db-credentials \
  --data host=db.internal \
  --data username=appuser \
  --data password=your-secure-password

Apply:

core apply

Clean Up

Remove all resources:

core destroy

Confirm when prompted.

Next Steps

Learn Core Concepts

• Services - Understanding service configuration
• Architecture - Core platform architecture
• Organizational Hierarchy - Teams and projects

Advanced Features

• Autoscaling - Scale based on metrics
• Multi-Cloud - Deploy across clouds
• Deployment Lifecycle - Manage deployments

Providers

• GCP Provider - Deploy to Google Cloud
• DFC Provider - Digital Frontier Cloud
• Akash Provider - Decentralized compute

Common Commands

Command	Description
core init	Initialize a new project
core validate	Validate configuration locally
core plan	Preview deployment changes
core apply	Deploy infrastructure
core status	Check deployment status
core logs	View service logs
core destroy	Delete all resources

Getting Help

• Documentation - Complete reference
• Email Support - Get support

Example Projects

Browse complete examples:

• Simple Web App - Basic HTTP service
• API with Database - REST API + PostgreSQL
• ML Training - GPU workload with autoscaling
• Microservices - Multi-service application
• Multi-Cloud HA - High-availability deployment

Find examples at github.com/digitalfrontier/core-compose-examples