Deploy to Pixeltable Cloud

Pixeltable Cloud is in Limited Beta. Email [email protected] if you are interested.

Use the same app.py as the Quickstart. Create an API key in the Cloud dashboard, export it, then create the hosted database, the tables, and hosted HTTP.

Get an API key

Cloud is in Limited Beta. Email [email protected] to get an account. Once you have one, sign in at pixeltable.com/login and the dashboard opens your organization.

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.

Export it

export PIXELTABLE_API_KEY='your-key'

Pixeltable reads the process environment and never loads a .env file on its own, so source one yourself first (set -a; source .env; set +a). Do not write api_key in config.toml. 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.

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

[[pixeltable.database]]
name = 'pxt://org:mydb'

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').

import pixeltable as pxt
import pixeltable.functions as pxtf
from pixeltable.serving import FastAPIRouter

TableModel = pxt.model_base()


@pxt.udf
def excerpt(text: str, n: int = 12) -> str:
    return text if len(text) <= n else f'{text[:n]}...'


class Docs(TableModel, name='docs'):
    id = pxt.Column(value=pxtf.uuid.uuid7(), primary_key=True)
    title: pxt.String
    body: pxt.String | None
    title_upper = pxtf.string.upper(title)
    summary = excerpt(title)


ingest = FastAPIRouter(name='ingest')
ingest.add_insert_route(
    Docs, path='/docs', inputs=[Docs.title, Docs.body], outputs=[Docs.id, Docs.title_upper, Docs.summary]
)
ingest.add_update_route(
    Docs, path='/docs/update', inputs=[Docs.title], outputs=[Docs.id, Docs.title_upper]
)
ingest.add_compute_route(Docs, path='/titles', inputs=[Docs.title], outputs=[Docs.title_upper])

The same file can hold pxt.Image, pxt.Video, pxt.Audio, or pxt.Document: media pipelines, RAG. pxt db update creates the hosted database, uploads the project files, and updates its image 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 app.py pxt://org:mydb to see pending schema changes.

What the database runs

A hosted database runs two things that come from your project, and they move independently.

The image holds the Python environment: your dependencies, the Python version, and any system packages. pxt db update rebuilds it only when that environment changed, which is the slow step.
The project files are your app.py and whatever else the entry selects. They are uploaded on their own, without a rebuild.

So editing a UDF costs an upload, while adding a line to pyproject.toml costs a build. Both are pxt db update; it works out which happened. [[pixeltable.database]] in pixeltable.toml declares which files are selected, what the image holds, and the CPU, memory, disk, and worker counts. See the cloud configuration reference.

What to run after a change

You changed	Run
A UDF body, a route, any `.py` the entry selects	`pxt db update`, then `pxt service update` to move running services onto it
A column or a table in `app.py`	`pxt db update`, then `pxt schema update`, then `pxt service update`
A dependency, the Python version, a system package	`pxt db update`: the image rebuilds
`cpu`, `memory_mb`, `disk_gb`, or `workers`	`pxt db update`: one resize, pods restart once
A secret	`pxt secret set pxt://org:mydb KEY=...`, then `pxt db restart pxt://org:mydb` so the pods read it
Nothing, but the last build failed	`pxt db build-image` forces a rebuild

pxt db diff pxt://org:mydb prints what update would do without doing it.

Operate it

pxt db status pxt://org:mydb     # state, endpoint, location
pxt db logs   pxt://org:mydb     # the database pod's log
pxt service list pxt://org:mydb  # the services running there, and their URLs
pxt service logs ingest          # one service's log
pxt db restart pxt://org:mydb    # cycle the pods onto what they already run
pxt db stop   pxt://org:mydb     # sleep: stops the pods, keeps the data
pxt db start  pxt://org:mydb     # wake it again
pxt db list                      # every hosted database your key reaches

pxt db status is where the hosted endpoint comes from; do not hardcode a hostname. Deleting is pxt db delete pxt://org:mydb, and it takes the storage with it. Full reference: CLI.

Media on the home bucket

Every Cloud database includes a managed Media Store at pxtfs://org:mydb/home. Hosted tables and services write there automatically. No destination=, no dest env vars. Set dest only for two cases:

Local Pixeltable writing into that same bucket: PIXELTABLE_API_KEY plus PIXELTABLE_INPUT_MEDIA_DEST / PIXELTABLE_OUTPUT_MEDIA_DEST (see Cloud storage).
Your own bucket: store AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID / AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY (or GCS / Azure names) under Secrets or pxt secret, then point those dest env vars at s3://, gs://, or wasbs://. A single computed column can also set destination=:

class Images(TableModel, name='images'):
    photo: pxt.Image
    thumbnail = pxt.Column(
        value=photo.resize((256, 256)),
        destination='s3://my-bucket/thumbnails',
    )

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 app.py my_app`	dashboard insert, `pxt schema diff app.py pxt://org:mydb`
Media	local disk	`pxtfs://org:mydb/home`

Request an account

Cloud is in Limited Beta.

Book a demo

Talk through a Cloud deployment.

Getting started

Tools

How to

Resources

Get an API key

What the database runs

What to run after a change

Operate it

Media on the home bucket

Local vs Cloud

Request an account

Book a demo

​Get an API key

​What the database runs

​What to run after a change

​Operate it

​Media on the home bucket

​Local vs Cloud

Request an account

Book a demo

Get an API key

What the database runs

What to run after a change

Operate it

Media on the home bucket

Local vs Cloud