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A PostgreSQL service can't be declared without an application Cloudfall deploys #81
Description
Found while writing a "start with one PostgreSQL" guide for the site.
What happens: a project that declares only a server and a PostgreSQL Service does not validate:
spec.postgresql.databases[].applicationis required (schema_validation_failed)- the referenced
Applicationmust exist (resource_reference_missing) - an
Applicationneeds at least one component (spec.components:minItems: 1), and a component needs a repository, runtime, deployment, systemd service and health check
So a database can only move to a Cloudfall server together with an app Cloudfall builds and deploys. A team whose app stays on Vercel, Fly or their own servers and only wants the database off Neon (or another managed PostgreSQL) cannot use Cloudfall for it, and the Neon guide's Step 1 references application: app without saying it has to be declared and deployed.
Expected: a database can be declared on its own, owned by a role Cloudfall creates, reachable by an app that runs elsewhere, with the same backups, restore drill and data copy receipt.
Where it shows: the site's "Move off Neon" call to action, and docs/neon-migration-guide.md Step 1 and Step 5 ("for an app elsewhere, route it the same way as any other declared service").
Activity
shipmill-romamo commentedon Oct 16, 2026
Triage: postponed to after 0.7.0. Confirmed on main (3c2d06c):
config/schemas/v1/service.schema.jsonrequiresspec.postgresql.databases[].application, andconfig/schemas/v1/application.schema.jsonrequires at least one component, so a database can't be declared without an app Cloudfall deploys. Making it possible is a new capability with a new contract (a database with no application, a role owner, access from outside the server), and 0.7.0 is in release candidates, which take bug fixes and broken promises only. The broken promise is already handled: #83 stopped the Neon guide and the site from offering a PostgreSQL on its own.The plan:
databases[].applicationoptional in the PostgreSQLServiceschema, with an explicitownerrole Cloudfall creates when no application is nameddata copyreceipt the same for a standalone database, since they key on the database, not the applicationdocs/neon-migration-guide.mdonce it validates and passes a proving runThis needs a spec with acceptance criteria before any code. It comes back when the next stable release is out, or sooner if the maintainer promotes it to a feature.
shipmill-romamo commentedon Oct 20, 2026
Triage: feature, back after the 0.7.0 stable release (REVISIT).
Still true on main (348ed73):
service.schema.jsonrequiresspec.postgresql.databases[].application. 0.7.0 is out, so the release-candidate bar that postponed this no longer applies, and the change is additive: configs that name an application keep working. The plan in the postponement stands (an optionalapplication, an explicit owner role, a declared way in for an outside app that is closed by default, the same backups, drill anddata copyreceipt), and it goes into a spec with acceptance criteria before any code.Written alongside #82's spec, since both are about moving a managed PostgreSQL onto a Cloudfall server.
The spec PR is being written now (
docs/specs/006-standalone-postgresql.md); I'll put its link and the hold line here. Merging it is the approval.shipmill-romamo commentedon Oct 20, 2026
The spec is in #101 (
docs/specs/006-standalone-postgresql.md). Choices to check in review: the owner's password comes from a sops reference decrypted on the controller, which adds--secrets-dirto every path that runsservices.yml; remote access is TLS-only with Debian's self-signed certificate (sslmode=require, no identity check) and covers onlyownerdatabases; validation refuses remote access on a server type with no firewall. Backups, the drill and thedata copyreceipt key on the database name, so they don't change.On hold: the build waits on #101, the spec