Descriptions:
Web Dev Cody shares an early but functional demo of “Launchpad,” an open-source self-hosting CLI tool he’s building as a developer-friendly alternative to platforms like Fly.io. The tool lets developers define services in a `launchpad.toml` configuration file, then use a single command to provision AWS EC2 instances, push Docker containers to ECR, configure an S3-backed state store, and set up a Caddy-based edge router for automatic HTTPS — all from the terminal.
The walkthrough covers the full lifecycle: `launchpad node create` spins up an EC2 instance in us-east-1 with an attached Elastic IP, service definitions specify memory limits and target nodes, and `launchpad deploy` builds and pushes containers to ECR before the on-machine agent pulls its configuration from S3. Supporting commands include `launchpad logs`, `launchpad node monitor` for live CPU and memory readouts, and node status checks. By the end of the video, a multi-service application is live at a custom Cloudflare-managed domain with HTTPS fully configured.
Cody built the majority of the project in roughly one day using Claude Code, and frames Launchpad as a tool aimed at indie hackers and side-project developers who want infrastructure control without signing up for third-party hosting platforms — partly motivated by recent security incidents at managed hosting providers. The project is planned to go open source, and this video serves as an early progress update for developers interested in contributing or following the build.
📺 Source: Web Dev Cody · Published June 05, 2026
🏷️ Format: Hands On Build
