Heroku Basics Cheat Sheet
Covers Heroku's dyno model, Procfile configuration, add-ons, and core CLI commands for deploying and scaling applications.
1 PageBeginnerFeb 8, 2026
Core Concepts
Heroku's application deployment model.
- Dyno- A lightweight container that runs your app's processes (web, worker, etc.)
- Procfile- Declares process types and the command to start each one
- Buildpack- Detects your app's language and prepares it to run (e.g. heroku/nodejs)
- Add-on- Managed third-party service (Postgres, Redis, logging) attached to your app
- Config Vars- Environment variables set per app, accessible at runtime
- Release Phase- An optional process type run before a new release goes live, e.g. migrations
Procfile Example
Defines a web process and a background worker.
text
web: node server.jsworker: node worker.jsrelease: node migrate.js
Heroku CLI Basics
Common commands for deploying and operating an app.
bash
heroku login # authenticateheroku create my-app # create a new appgit push heroku main # deploy via githeroku ps:scale web=2 worker=1 # scale dynosheroku config:set API_KEY=abc123 # set a config varheroku logs --tail # stream logsheroku addons:create heroku-postgresql:mini # add a Postgres add-on
Pro Tip
Free and eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity, adding cold-start latency to the next request — use a paid dyno type or an external uptime pinger for anything user-facing that needs consistent response times.
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