Prompt cookbook

This cookbook collects requests you can copy into Ask dPanel, the dPanel AI assistant, for common tasks. Replace the names and numbers with your own. Questions run at once; anything that changes your workspace comes back as a card for you to approve. See Approve or reject changes.

Find your way around

Launch a server

Create a VM in my Google Cloud project 7 named web-1: Ubuntu 24.04, 2 vCPU and 4 GB of memory, the cheapest machine type, 30 GB disk, region asia-southeast1, with SSH key 37.

The assistant looks up your cloud accounts, regions, machine types and SSH keys, then proposes the server with an estimated price. The real price is what your cloud provider charges. A new server takes 10 to 20 minutes to be ready; ask "Is server web-1 ready?" to check.

To set up a server again after a failed setup: Run server setup again on server 145.

Prefer the forms? See Create a cloud server.

Install software on a server

Server 145 is ready. Propose installing MariaDB, PHP 8.5 and FrankenPHP on it.

Ask "Which versions of PostgreSQL can I install?" first if you are not sure. Approve one install at a time and wait for it to finish. See Install software.

Add a database for your app

On server 145, create a MariaDB database named wordpress with a user named wp.

For PostgreSQL: On server 145, create a PostgreSQL database named shop with a user named shop. (PostgreSQL names are lowercase.)

The server needs MariaDB or PostgreSQL installed first; the assistant checks and proposes the install if it is missing. When you approve, dPanel creates the database and user and shows the generated password once on the card. Copy it straight away.

To look inside your databases: Which databases are on server 145? Give me the DB Manager links.

Deploy WordPress

Ask in steps, approving each card and waiting for its job before the next:

1. 1
   Server 145 is ready. Propose installing MariaDB, PHP 8.5 and FrankenPHP on it.
2. 2
   On server 145, create a MariaDB database named wordpress with a user named wp. Save the generated password.
3. 3
   Create an application named Blog from https://github.com/dPanel-ID/wordpress-example, branch main. Language PHP 8.5 with FrankenPHP, build command ./scripts/build.sh, start command ./scripts/start.sh. Runtime variables: WORDPRESS_DB_HOST=127.0.0.1:3306, WORDPRESS_DB_NAME=wordpress, WORDPRESS_DB_USER=wp, WORDPRESS_HOME=https://blog.example.com, WORDPRESS_SITEURL=https://blog.example.com, and WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD as a secret I type when approving. On the card, type the password you saved in step 2.
4. 4
   Deploy application Blog from main to server 145.
5. 5
   Put Blog on blog.example.com with HTTPS.

The step-by-step version with screenshots is Deploy WordPress.

Deploy Laravel

Ask in steps, approving each card and waiting for its job before the next:

1. 1
   Server 145 is ready. Propose installing PostgreSQL, PHP 8.5, FrankenPHP and Node.js on it.
2. 2
   On server 145, create a PostgreSQL database named laravel with a user named laravel. Save the generated password.
3. 3
   Create the application:

Create an application named Shop from https://github.com/dPanel-ID/laravel-example, branch main. Language PHP 8.5 with Node.js as an extra runtime, build command ./scripts/build.sh, start command ./scripts/start.sh. Runtime variables: APP_ENV=production, APP_DEBUG=false, APP_URL=https://shop.example.com, DB_CONNECTION=pgsql, DB_HOST=127.0.0.1, DB_PORT=5432, DB_DATABASE=laravel, DB_USERNAME=laravel, OCTANE_SERVER=frankenphp, and DB_PASSWORD as a secret I type when approving.

• If the repository has no .devetek definition, the assistant asks for the language, version, build commands and start command rather than guessing. It may suggest values from your composer.json, package.json or .env.example; confirm them.
• Don't choose a port. dPanel picks a free port on the server when it deploys, and tells you which.
• If the build also uses Node.js (for example npm to build front-end assets), say so, as above. dPanel puts only the runtimes declared on the application on the build's path; the assistant installs Node.js and declares it for you.

Then: Deploy application Shop from main to server 145. and Put Shop on shop.example.com with HTTPS. The full walkthrough is Deploy Laravel.

Set environment variables

Never write a secret value in the chat. Ask for it "as a secret I type when approving", and type the value in the field on the card. A change applies from the next deploy, so the assistant offers to deploy afterwards. See Environment variables.

Put an app on a domain

Put application Shop on shop.example.com with HTTPS.

• With a domain managed in dPanel, the assistant also creates the DNS record. See Domains and DNS.
• To pick the engine: Use the APISIX engine. (Caddy is the default; HAProxy is also available.)
• Cloudflare proxying stays off unless you ask: Proxy it through Cloudflare.
• The application needs a ready deployment first.

To reach a database from outside with a TCP load balancer:

Create a TCP load balancer named pg-ext on server 145 that exposes its PostgreSQL on port 15432, reachable only from 203.0.113.7.

If the server's firewall is on, the assistant warns you that the port must be allowed too and offers the rule. See Load balancers.

Open or close a port

Adding or removing a rule only changes the saved list; applying puts it on the server, so you approve two cards. SSH, and HTTP/HTTPS on servers with a load balancer engine, always stay open. See Firewall.

Read logs

See Reading logs to read them yourself.

Debug a failing app

Why is application Shop failing on server 145?

My site shop.example.com shows a 502 error. Find out why.

The assistant reads the deployment, its build and runtime logs and the server's usage, quotes the lines that matter, and proposes a fix. More in Diagnose problems with AI.

Clusters, groups and workers

See Server groups and clusters and Workers.

Clean up

Delete application Old Shop and everything it needs removed first.

Deletes cannot be undone. The assistant confirms the resource, shows its ID and name, and proposes deletes in the order dPanel accepts: load balancer, deployments, builds, then the application. Servers, load balancers and deployments are deleted in two steps: the first cleans them up, the second removes the record.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to use these exact words?

No. They are examples. Write the way you speak, in English or Indonesian; the assistant asks when something is missing.

Can I ask for several changes at once?

Yes. The assistant shows one card per change. Approve them one at a time and wait for each job, because dPanel runs one job at a time per server.

What if I don't know an ID?

Use the name, or ask first: "Which applications do I have?" The assistant never guesses an ID; if a name matches more than one thing, it asks which one.

Why didn't the assistant pick a port for my app?

It leaves the port to dPanel, which picks a free one on the server when it deploys. The deployment and the card tell you which port it took.