# Key Concepts Understanding Hydron's core concepts will help you make the most of the platform. This page explains the fundamental building blocks and how they fit together. ## Overview Hydron is organized around five core concepts: **Projects**, **Services**, **Chats**, **Infrastructure Plans**, and **Servers**. Each builds on the others to create a complete deployment workflow.  ## Projects A **Project** is the top-level container for everything related to a deployment. It groups together your services, conversations, infrastructure plans, and deployment history. **Key characteristics:** - Each project has a **name** and **type** (Web App, Microservice, Static Site, etc.) - Projects contain one or more **services** (your application components) - Projects have **chats** where you interact with the AI assistant - Each project tracks its own **infrastructure plans** and **deployment runs**  **Common patterns:** - **One project per application** — A full-stack app with frontend, backend, and database - **One project per environment** — Separate projects for staging and production - **One project per client** — Freelancers managing multiple client deployments ## Services A **Service** represents a deployable component within your project. Services are detected during code analysis or added manually. **Examples of services:** - An Express.js API server - A React frontend application - A PostgreSQL database - A Redis cache - A background worker process **Each service has:** - A **name** and **type** identifier - A **source** — Git repository, Docker image, or template - A **Dockerfile** — Existing or AI-generated - **Environment variables** — Configuration values the service needs - **Port mappings** — Which ports the service exposes - A **health check** — Endpoint and interval for monitoring Services can depend on each other. For example, your API server might depend on a database service. Hydron understands these relationships and configures networking accordingly. ## Chats The **Chat** is your primary interface for interacting with Hydron. Instead of filling out forms or writing configuration files, you describe what you need in natural language. **What you can do in a chat:** - Connect a repository and trigger code analysis - Ask the AI to generate or modify infrastructure plans - Review and approve deployment steps - Ask questions about your infrastructure - Request changes to server configurations - Troubleshoot deployment issues **How chats work:** - Each chat belongs to a project - Messages are streamed in real-time from the AI - The AI can trigger actions like code analysis, plan generation, and deployment - Action cards appear in the chat for reviewing and approving steps - Multiple chats can exist per project for different topics or deployment iterations ## Infrastructure Plans An **Infrastructure Plan** is the AI-generated blueprint for deploying your application. It specifies everything needed to go from code to a running production environment. **A plan includes:** | Component | Description | |-----------|-------------| | **Server specs** | CPU, RAM, storage, datacenter location | | **Dockerfiles** | Container configurations for each service | | **Environment variables** | Required configuration values | | **Port mappings** | Network ports for each service | | **Health checks** | Monitoring endpoints and intervals | | **Domain configuration** | Domain names and SSL settings | | **Post-deploy commands** | Scripts to run after deployment | **Plan lifecycle:** 1. **Generated** — AI creates the plan based on code analysis 2. **Reviewed** — You review the plan in the Infrastructure panel 3. **Modified** — Ask the AI to change any aspect 4. **Approved** — You approve the final plan 5. **Executed** — Servers are provisioned and app is deployed Plans become **stale** if you change services after the plan was created. Hydron will notify you and suggest regenerating the plan. ## Servers  Hydron deploys your applications to **dedicated servers** — real machines that you own and control. These are not shared hosting or serverless functions. **Server characteristics:** - **Dedicated hardware** — Your own CPU, RAM, and storage - **Full SSH access** — Connect directly via SSH with root access - **Docker-based** — Applications run in Docker containers - **Managed provisioning** — Hydron handles OS installation and configuration - **No vendor lock-in** — Your server, your data, your control **Server lifecycle:** 1. **Selected** — You choose a server specification from available options 2. **Provisioned** — OS is installed and Docker is configured 3. **Deployed** — Your application containers are running 4. **Monitored** — Health checks verify your app is running Servers are managed through the **Server Inventory**, where you can view details, add tags, link servers to projects, and monitor their status. ## Deployment Runs A **Run** represents a single execution of a deployment pipeline. Each time you deploy or redeploy, a new run is created. **A run tracks:** - **Provisioning steps** — Server setup commands and their status - **Build steps** — Docker image building progress - **Deploy steps** — Container deployment and health check results - **Logs** — Real-time streaming output from each step **Run statuses:** - **Started** — The run has been initiated - **In Progress** — Steps are actively executing - **Completed** — All steps finished successfully - **Failed** — One or more steps encountered an error - **Paused** — The run was manually paused - **Stopped** — The run was manually stopped You can pause, resume, or stop a run at any time. Failed runs show detailed error logs to help you troubleshoot. ## How everything connects Here's how a typical deployment flows through these concepts: 1. Create a **PROJECT** 2. Start a **CHAT** within the project 3. Connect your code — AI detects **SERVICES** 4. AI generates an **INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN** 5. You review and approve the plan 6. A **DEPLOYMENT RUN** provisions **SERVERS** 7. Your app is live on dedicated **SERVERS** Each concept builds on the previous one, and the AI assistant guides you through each step via the chat interface. ## Next steps - [Deploy from Git](/docs/deploy-from-git) — Walk through a complete deployment - [Projects](/docs/projects) — Learn how to organize and manage projects - [Infrastructure Plans](/docs/infrastructure-plans) — Understand plan details