Generated Access Routes

Short definition

A generated access URL is a reachable URL Appaloft automatically creates for a resource when no custom domain is configured. It’s used to verify for the first time that a deployment can actually be opened from a browser, and it’s the first stop for troubleshooting “the app started but external users can’t reach it.”

Why this concept exists

A custom domain needs DNS propagation and certificate issuance, which can take anywhere from minutes to tens of minutes. A generated access URL doesn’t depend on any user configuration, so it can immediately tell you “is the app itself plus the proxy layer actually working,” completely ruling out domain-layer problems.

What it depends on to become ready

A generated access URL’s “ready” status depends on:

the resource’s Network Profile — whether the listening port and protocol are configured correctly;
whether the target server has a public entrypoint, and whether the proxy is ready;
whether the most recent deployment has reached a verifiable stage;
whether the health check passes (if a mandatory health check is configured).

If a resource has no explicitly declared listening port, or the proxy isn’t ready yet, Appaloft still shows resource and deployment status, but it won’t show the generated access URL as ready.

Where you see it in Web, CLI, and API

# View a resource summary, including the current generated access URL
appaloft resource show res_web

# View the system-level default access policy
appaloft default-access show --scope system

# View whether a specific server overrides the system default policy
appaloft default-access show --scope deployment-target --server srv_primary

# List all saved default access policies
appaloft default-access list

GET /api/resources/res_web/health?checks=true&publicAccessProbe=true

Example responsejson

{
  "resourceId": "res_web",
  "runtime": "ready",
  "health": "passing",
  "proxy": "ready",
  "generatedAccess": {
    "url": "https://res-web.203-0-113-10.sslip.io",
    "readiness": "ready"
  }
}

In local/self-hosted scenarios, the common default access provider is sslip — it automatically generates a reachable hostname based on the server’s public address, without requiring you to own any domain.

Resource-level access configuration

Each resource can independently configure whether it participates in generated access URLs:

Inherit (default) — keeps using the system- or server-level default access policy.
Disabled — this resource no longer plans a generated access URL (custom domain binding is unaffected and follows its own lifecycle).

Changing this configuration doesn’t rewrite an already-saved historical deployment snapshot — it only affects future deployments.

Common mistakes

Treating a generated access URL as a permanent production domain: its main purpose is verification and troubleshooting; production scenarios should typically configure a Custom Domain.
Assuming changing the default access policy affects historical deployments: a policy change only affects access URLs resolved afterward — historical URLs already written into a deployment snapshot are never rewritten.