> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pixeltable.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Deploy to Pixeltable Cloud

> Same application file against a hosted database

Use the same `app.py` as the [Quickstart](/overview/quick-start). Create an API key in the Cloud dashboard, export it, then create the hosted database, the tables, and hosted HTTP.

## Get an API key

Sign in from the browser, create a key, then export it. The CLI reads `PIXELTABLE_API_KEY`. It does not log you in.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign in">
    New account: [pixeltable.com/signup](https://www.pixeltable.com/signup). Existing account: [pixeltable.com/login](https://www.pixeltable.com/login). After sign-in, the [dashboard](https://www.pixeltable.com/dashboard) opens your organization.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a key">
    Open **API Keys** in the organization sidebar, or go to `https://www.pixeltable.com/dashboard/your-org/api-keys`. Click **New**, or **Create API Key** if the list is empty. Name the key. Click **Create Key**. Copy the value now. The dashboard shows the full key once.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Export it">
    ```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
    export PIXELTABLE_API_KEY='your-key'
    ```

    Or in `~/.pixeltable/config.toml`:

    ```toml theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
    [pixeltable]
    api_key = 'your-key'
    ```

    [Configuration](/platform/configuration). This key authenticates Cloud CLI and hosted HTTP. Provider keys such as `OPENAI_API_KEY` go under **Secrets** in the dashboard, or `pxt secret set pxt://org OPENAI_API_KEY=...`. They do not go in this API key. [CLI](/platform/cli#pxt-secret).
  </Step>
</Steps>

`pxt init` writes `pixeltable.toml`. Put the hosted URL in that file, then run the three commands:

```toml theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
[[pixeltable.database]]
name = 'pxt://org:mydb'
```

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
pxt db update pxt://org:mydb
pxt schema update app.py pxt://org:mydb
pxt service update app.py pxt://org:mydb
```

A Cloud table path uses the URI plus `/table`. Open it with `t = pxt.get_table('pxt://org:mydb/docs')`. A local table uses dotted `namespace.table`, such as `pxt.get_table('my_app.docs')`.

```python theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
import pixeltable as pxt
import pixeltable.functions as pxtf
from pixeltable.serving import FastAPIRouter

TableModel = pxt.model_base()


class Docs(TableModel, name='docs'):
    title: pxt.String
    body: pxt.String | None
    title_upper = pxtf.string.upper(title)


ingest = FastAPIRouter(name='ingest')
ingest.add_insert_route(
    Docs, path='/docs', inputs=[Docs.title, Docs.body], outputs=[Docs.title, Docs.title_upper]
)
```

The same file can hold `pxt.Image`, `pxt.Video`, `pxt.Audio`, or `pxt.Document`: [media pipelines](/use-cases/media-processing), [RAG](/use-cases/multimodal-backend).

`pxt db update` creates the hosted database or updates its image, secrets, and size. It does not insert your data and does not start app endpoints. `pxt schema update` creates the tables. It does not start the endpoints. `pxt service update` starts hosted endpoints. Do not use `pxt service run` for Cloud; that command only starts endpoints in your local terminal.

After the database is up, insert from the Cloud dashboard or from Python. A local file path on a Cloud table uploads the file. Run `pxt schema diff` to see pending schema changes.

## Media on the home bucket

Every Cloud database includes a managed bucket. No provider account, no credentials file. Set `destination=` on that computed column:

```python theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
class Images(TableModel, name='images'):
    photo: pxt.Image
    thumbnail = pxt.Column(
        value=photo.resize((256, 256)),
        destination='pxtfs://org:mydb/home',
    )
```

Or set `output_media_dest` as the default for computed media. Details: [Cloud storage](/integrations/cloud-storage#pixeltable-cloud-home-bucket).

## Local vs Cloud

|                 | Local                                      | Cloud                                      |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ |
| Hosted database | not needed                                 | `pxt db update pxt://org:mydb`             |
| Tables          | `pxt schema update app.py my_app`          | `pxt schema update app.py pxt://org:mydb`  |
| HTTP            | `pxt service update app.py my_app`         | `pxt service update app.py pxt://org:mydb` |
| Try a change    | insert, `pxt dashboard`, `pxt schema diff` | dashboard insert, `pxt schema diff`        |
| Media           | local disk                                 | `pxtfs://org:mydb/home`                    |

`pxt db` also lists, starts, stops, diffs, and deletes hosted databases. `pxt db build-image` rebuilds the Python image without waiting for drift. [CLI](/platform/cli#cloud).

<CardGroup cols={2}>
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    Early access to Pixeltable Cloud.
  </Card>

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    Talk through a Cloud deployment.
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