Deployment

GLEN apps are static sites — just HTML, JSON, and Markdown files. They can be hosted anywhere. The only variable is how the LLM API key reaches the app.

Option 1: GitHub Pages (or any static host)

The simplest option. Each user supplies their own LLM API key via the in-app settings panel. No server-side secrets needed.

Use the geo-agent-template — it includes a ready-to-use GitHub Actions workflow.

1. Set "user_provided": true in the llm section of layers-input.json
2. Push to a GitHub repo and enable Pages (Settings → Pages → Source: GitHub Actions)
3. The workflow in the template deploys on push to main

Users visit the app and enter their own API key (e.g., from OpenRouter) in the ⚙ settings panel. Keys are stored in localStorage only — never sent to your server.

Works equally well on Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, or any static host.

Free hosting with a pre-configured key

If you want visitors to use the app without supplying their own API key, but don't have access to Kubernetes, Hugging Face Spaces is a free option. Create a static Space and store your config.json (containing the API key) as a Space secret — it gets mounted as a file at runtime, never committed to the repo. The app works the same as any static host, but the key is managed by HF.

Option 2: Kubernetes (NRP / cloud)

For production deployments with managed API keys and a private LLM proxy.

Use the geo-agent-template — it includes k8s/ manifests ready to adapt.

API keys are injected into config.json at deploy time via a ConfigMap + init container:

kubectl apply -f k8s/configmap.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/service.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/ingress.yaml

A release of the library changes nothing for a running app: the app's index.html pins a version, so it keeps loading the same code until you bump that pin. Restart when your files change:

• You bumped the pin, or edited index.html / layers-input.json. If the pod git clones the app at startup (an initContainer, as in the template), the running pod keeps serving what it cloned, so restart it to re-clone. If those files come from a ConfigMap, kubectl apply it first.
• You changed the ConfigMap or deployment manifests. Apply, then restart.

kubectl rollout restart deployment/my-app

config.json

The deploy-time config.json sits beside layers-input.json and is merged over it at startup. It holds what shouldn't be committed. The app reads these keys from it:

Key	Description
llm_models	Array of { value, label, endpoint, api_key }, the models offered in the chat footer.
llm_model	Which of them is selected on load. Defaults to the first.
mcp_server_url	MCP server URL. Overrides mcp_url from layers-input.json.
mcp_auth_token	Sent to the MCP server as Authorization: Bearer ….
transcription_model	Enables voice input. See Voice input.
draw_enabled, geolocate	Override the same keys in layers-input.json.
max_tool_calls, max_tool_calls_manual	Override the checkpoint caps. 0 disables a cap.
export	Overrides the export settings.
maptiler_key	MapTiler key for the basemap, and for the maptiler geocoder when it has none of its own.

Without a config.json (local development, GitHub Pages), set llm.user_provided instead so visitors supply their own key.

CDN versioning

All deployment options load the core library from jsDelivr. Always pin to a release tag — @main is not supported for deployed apps because changes can land between page loads and break tooling/MCP-server contracts that the app depends on.

<!-- Pinned to a release tag — required for any deployed app -->
<script type="module"
  src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/boettiger-lab/geo-agent@v3.32.0/app/main.js">
</script>

For short-lived demos previewing an in-flight feature branch, pin to a commit SHA (@<40-char-sha>); never use a branch name, since jsDelivr's branch-ref resolution is non-deterministic.

To release a new version: create a GitHub release via gh release create vX.Y.Z --target main --generate-notes. Apps upgrade by changing their tag in index.html (coordinated through the geo-agent-ops repo for in-house apps).