Domino Apps Skill

This skill provides comprehensive knowledge for deploying web applications to Domino Data Lab, with special focus on React applications using Vite.

Key Concepts

Domino App Architecture

Domino apps run in containers behind a reverse proxy that:

1. Authenticates users via Domino's auth system
2. Strips the URL prefix before forwarding to your app
3. Routes traffic to your app container
4. Handles infrastructure provisioning, routing, and resource management

Note: Port selection is flexible; port 8888 is no longer required. You can use any port your application prefers.

Critical Configuration Points

1. Host Binding: Bind to 0.0.0.0 (not localhost) so Domino can reach your app
2. Relative Base Path: Use base: './' in Vite config for React apps
3. app.sh: Entry point script (launch file) that Domino executes

Related Documentation

• API-APPS.md - REST automation: v1 vs beta, publish chain, management vs app URL, inference split
• REACT-VITE-GUIDE.md - Deep dive into Vite + React configuration
• REACT-CICD.md - CI/CD setup with GitHub Actions
• FRAMEWORKS.md - Streamlit, Dash, Flask configurations
• TROUBLESHOOTING.md - Common issues and solutions

Quick Start

React with Vite

// vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [react()],
  base: './',  // CRITICAL for Domino proxy
  server: { host: '0.0.0.0', port: 8888, strictPort: true },
  preview: { host: '0.0.0.0', port: 8888, strictPort: true },
})

# app.sh
#!/bin/bash
set -e
cd /mnt/code
npm ci
npm run build
npx serve -s dist -l 8888 --no-clipboard

Streamlit

# app.sh
#!/bin/bash
streamlit run app.py --server.port 8888 --server.address 0.0.0.0

Dash/Flask

# app.sh
#!/bin/bash
python app.py  # Must bind to 0.0.0.0:8888

Environment Variables

Domino provides these environment variables to your app:

Inter-App Communication

Domino apps can communicate with each other using bearer token authentication. This is useful for:

• Calling Model APIs from an app
• App-to-app service calls
• Accessing internal Domino services

Getting the Access Token

Domino provides an access token service at localhost:8899:

import requests

# Get bearer token for inter-app communication
API_TOKEN = requests.get("http://localhost:8899/access-token").text

Making Authenticated Requests

import requests

# 1. Get access token from Domino's token service
API_TOKEN = requests.get("http://localhost:8899/access-token").text

# 2. Set up headers with bearer token
headers = {
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {API_TOKEN}",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

# 3. Make request to another Domino app or service
payload = {
    "query": "Your request data here"
}

try:
    resp = requests.post(
        "https://your-domino-instance/apps-internal/APP_ID/endpoint",
        json=payload,
        headers=headers,
        timeout=100
    )
    resp.raise_for_status()
    data = resp.json()
    print(data)
except requests.exceptions.RequestException as err:
    print("API call failed:", err)

Key Points

• Token endpoint: http://localhost:8899/access-token (only accessible from within Domino)
• Token type: Bearer token for Authorization header
• Use cases: Model API calls, app-to-app communication, internal services
• Timeout: Set appropriate timeouts for long-running requests

REST automation (apps API)

For create, publish, start, and stop from code, read API-APPS.md. Use /api/apps/v1 for writes; use /api/apps/beta only for instance logs, views, and runtime telemetry.

API Reference

OpenAPI and route discovery: API-SPECS.md (public routes section).

API Version Prioritization Rules

• Prioritize the Apps v1 API (/api/apps/v1) for all apps creation, update, preview, publication, start and stop workflows.
• The Beta API (/api/apps/beta) is deprecated for new automation and maintained for backward compatibility and runtime reads. Do not build new functionality against beta endpoints if a v1 equivalent exists.
• Instance Read Operations Exception: Instance read operations (such as fetching active container logs, realTimeLogs, views, listing active running instances, or issuing an instance-level DELETE) were not migrated to the v1 spec. They remain under /api/apps/beta.

Rule of Thumb: Use v1 for automating write or publish actions. Fall back to beta for streaming runtime telemetry like logs or views.

Authentication: https://docs.domino.ai/cloud/reference/api/domino-api-authentication . In-run: DOMINO_API_PROXY (no Authorization header) or DOMINO_USER_HOST + http://localhost:8899/access-token. Outside run: public deployment URL + PAT/SA. Do not use API keys.

Get the cluster base URL: $DOMINO_USER_HOST or $DOMINO_API_HOST in-run; confirm apps routes with GET .../api/apps/v1/apps?limit=1.

Public docs:

• https://docs.domino.ai/cloud/platform-capabilities/features/apps

Blueprint Reference:

• React CI/CD Blueprint