Node.js / Express
Learn how to deploy an Express API with Ink MCP using a simple prompt.
Create an Ink account and connect MCP
Make sure you have an Ink account and have connected Ink MCP to your agent. There are two ways to connect:
- OAuth — authenticate through a browser flow, no keys to manage
- Token — create an API key at ml.ink/account/api-keys
See Quick Start for full setup instructions.
Verify the connection
Once the MCP server is connected, confirm your agent can reach it by asking it to check.
Do you have Ink MCP connected?
Create an Express API
Ask your agent to scaffold a new Express project. If you already have a Node.js app in the current directory, skip this step and go straight to deploying.
Build a REST API with Express.js that has CRUD endpoints for a "tasks" resource. Use in-memory storage and include input validation.
Deploy with Ink
Tell your agent to deploy. The agent will create a git repository on Ink's internal git (or your connected GitHub), push the code, and call create_service to trigger a build.
Ink auto-detects Node.js and runs your app with node index.js on port 3000.
Deploy with Ink
create_repo(
"name": "tasks-api"
)create_service(
"name": "tasks-api",
"repo": "ink/tasks-api",
"build_pack": "railpack",
"port": "3000"
)Visit your API
Ink returns a live URL once the build completes. Hit your endpoints to confirm everything is working.
Check logs and metrics (optional)
Ask your agent to pull build logs, runtime logs, or metrics for your deployed service.
Check metrics and logs
get_service(
"name": "tasks-api",
"deploy_log_lines": "50",
"runtime_log_lines": "50"
)That's it — your Express API is deployed and live. From here you can add a custom domain, set up environment variables, or explore more examples.