Prerequisites

1. A DigitalOcean account with an SSH key added
2. The doctl CLI — install guide
3. Authenticate: doctl auth init

Create Your Server

One command creates a droplet and installs everything — Docker, Go, Congo CLI, and code-server.

curl -fsSL https://congo.gg/cloud-init.sh -o /tmp/cloud-init.sh

doctl compute droplet create congo-dev \
  --size s-2vcpu-4gb \
  --image ubuntu-24-04-x64 \
  --region nyc1 \
  --ssh-keys $(doctl compute ssh-key list --format ID --no-header | head -1) \
  --user-data-file /tmp/cloud-init.sh \
  --wait

s-2vcpu-4gb is the recommended size ($24/mo). Use s-2vcpu-2gb for a lighter setup.

Get Your Setup Token

The cloud-init script takes 2-3 minutes. SSH in to get your setup token.

doctl compute ssh congo-dev
# The token is displayed in the login banner (motd)

If the banner hasn't appeared yet, wait a moment and reconnect. Check progress with tail -f /var/log/cloud-init-output.log

Create Your Account

Open your browser and visit your droplet's IP address.

doctl compute droplet get congo-dev --format PublicIPv4 --no-header

Visit http://YOUR_IP — you'll be redirected to the setup page. Enter the setup token and create your admin account.

Add a Domain (Optional)

Point a domain to your droplet's IP address. You can set it during setup or later from the dashboard.

# Point your DNS A record to the droplet IP:
doctl compute droplet get congo-dev --format PublicIPv4 --no-header
# → 143.198.x.x

# Then enter the domain during setup, or add it from the Routes page

TLS is auto-provisioned via Let's Encrypt once the domain resolves to your server. No manual certificate setup needed.

What Gets Installed

Docker

Container runtime for code-server and your deployed apps

Go

Latest stable Go toolchain for building Congo projects

Congo CLI

Project scaffolding, builds, and deployment

VS Code (code-server)

Full browser IDE at /coder/ — auth-gated through the dashboard

Congo Dev

Dashboard, repo management, service deployment, AI agent

Auto-TLS

Built-in reverse proxy with automatic Let's Encrypt certificates

Next Steps

→ Create a new Congo project from the dashboard
→ Open it in VS Code from the dashboard
→ Deploy it as a service from the dashboard
→ Add a domain — TLS is automatic

Setup Guide