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

# Node.js Express App

> How to deploy a Node.js app server on Hop in less than 2 minutes

Hop makes it easy to deploy any Node.js application. This guide focusses on the deployment of an Express application, however it applies to any Node.js web application.

## Demo

We have created a demo application that you can deploy to Hop to see how it works. It's a simple Express application that exposes a single endpoint that returns the hostname of the container it's running on.

### Deploying the demo

1. Fork [node-express-app](https://github.com/hop-examples/node-express-app) on GitHub.
2. Create a new Hop deployment on the Console and select the GitHub repository you just forked.
3. Hit `Deploy` and wait for the build to finish.
4. To expose your application to the web, create a [Gateway](/ignite/gateways) and point it to port `3000`.

That's it! You're now able to scale your Express application horizontally and take advantage of all the features Hop has to offer.

### Adding a health check (optional)

[Health checks](/ignite/health-checks) are a great way to ensure your application has zero downtime. Health checks insure that:

* If your application is not responding to requests, Hop will automatically restart it, and
* when containers start, the health check must succeed before the container gets added to your Gateway (load balancer)

To add a health check, first visit the **Health Check** page in your new deployment. Then, add a new health check with the following settings:

| Setting | Value  |
| ------- | ------ |
| Path    | `/`    |
| Port    | `3000` |

Once entered, click **Create Check**. Your health check is now active and will be queried to ensure zero downtime. You can see health check success status update in realtime on the Hop console.