# Jaws Deploy

> Jaws Deploy is a deployment automation (continuous delivery) platform. A CI tool builds and packages the code; Jaws Deploy turns the build artifact into a versioned release and deploys it to Windows and Linux machines and Azure services, promoting it through environments such as Development, Staging and Production. It runs as a managed cloud service (EU-hosted) or self-hosted (Jaws Deploy Stack).

Key facts for agents:

- Web app and sign-up: https://app.jawsdeploy.net. A free plan is available; current plans and limits are on the pricing page.
- REST API base URL: `https://app.jawsdeploy.net/api`. Auth is HTTP Basic with a service account: `Authorization: Basic base64(serviceAccountId:apiKey)`. JSON in and out. Errors return `{ errorcode, error }`.
- The OpenAPI document describes every REST API endpoint, parameter and response - see REST API below.
- MCP server: `https://app.jawsdeploy.net/mcp` (Streamable HTTP, same Basic auth). Works with Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex and any MCP client. Deployments need a dry run (`preview_deploy`) before `trigger_deploy`; secret variables cannot be read or written through MCP.
- Self-hosted Stack users: replace `app.jawsdeploy.net` with your own host.
- Deployment scripts run in PowerShell 7, Windows PowerShell 5.1 or Python 3. Runtimes are provisioned on each target by the Jaws Deploy Agent.
- Variables use `#{VariableName}` syntax and are scoped by environment, machine, tag, step and more.
- CI integrations: TeamCity plugin, PowerShell SDK, Python SDK, or plain REST calls from GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Azure Pipelines, CircleCI.
- Uses the same concepts as Octopus Deploy (projects, steps, step templates, lifecycles, channels) and has a migration guide.
- Core concepts: workspace, project, step, step template, script module, environment, machine/target, tag, variable, release, channel, lifecycle, deployment, package feed.
- Every documentation page listed here is also available as Markdown by adding `.md` to its URL.

## Start here

- [Full documentation in one file](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/llms-full.txt): Every guide, glossary term and REST API page as a single Markdown file.
- [What is Jaws Deploy?](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/what-is-jaws-deploy.md): A short tour of what Jaws Deploy does, who it's for, and how it sits between CI and production.
- [Getting Started with Jaws Deploy](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/getting-started.md): Sign up, create a workspace, model your first environment, install an agent, and ship a release.
- [Connect your AI assistant to Jaws in 3 minutes](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/mcp-quickstart.md): Step-by-step MCP setup for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex Desktop, Codex CLI, and Continue.
- [Glossary](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/glossary.md): Definitions of workspaces, projects, environments, targets, releases, lifecycles, variables and other concepts.
- [Pricing](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/pricing.md): Current plans, limits and add-on rates.

## Guides: Getting Started

- [Jaws Deploy vs. Traditional Deployment Tools](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/jaws-deploy-vs-traditional-deployment-tools.md): Why teams move away from "deploy.ps1 in the build server" once they have more than one environment to keep honest.
- [The Role of Jaws Deploy in CI/CD Workflows](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/role-of-jaws-deploy-in-ci-cd.md): Where Jaws Deploy fits next to your CI tool, what each owns, and how they hand off.

## Guides: CI/CD Integration

- [Integrating Jaws Deploy with TeamCity](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/integrating-teamcity.md): Use the TeamCity plugin or PowerShell SDK to create releases after every successful build.
- [Integrating GitHub Actions](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/integrating-github-actions.md): Trigger releases from a GitHub Actions workflow using the REST API or PowerShell SDK.
- [Integrating GitLab CI](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/integrating-gitlab.md): Call Jaws Deploy from a `.gitlab-ci.yml` job to ship every build to a staging environment.
- [Integrating Jenkins](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/integrating-jenkins.md): Wire a Jenkins pipeline step that creates and optionally deploys a Jaws Deploy release.
- [Integrating Azure Pipelines](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/integrating-azure-pipelines.md): Call Jaws Deploy from an Azure DevOps pipeline using a service connection and an API key.
- [Integrating CircleCI](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/integrating-circleci.md): Trigger Jaws Deploy releases from a CircleCI job using the REST API.

## Guides: Projects, Steps & Targets

- [Projects and Deployment Logic](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/projects-and-deployment-logic.md): What a project is, what it owns, and how its deployment process holds together.
- [Project Steps Explained](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/project-steps-explained.md): The unit of work inside a deployment process - ordered, scoped, and re-runnable.
- [Step Templates in Action](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/step-templates-in-action.md): Take a step you've copy-pasted three times and turn it into a versioned template with inputs.
- [Custom Script Modules](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/custom-script-modules.md): Share PowerShell helper functions across every script step in every project.
- [Python Script Steps](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/python-script-steps.md): Write deployment steps in Python — Jaws provisions the runtime on each target so you don't have to.
- [Environments and Targets](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/environments-and-targets.md): Model deployment stages and the machines or cloud services that receive deployments.
- [Cloud Targets](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/cloud-targets.md): Deploy to Azure Web Apps and other managed services without installing an agent.
- [Managing Machines](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/managing-machines.md): Register, group, and decommission Windows and Linux machines as deployment targets.
- [Azure Web App Deployment](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/azure-web-app-deployment.md): Walkthrough: configure an Azure Web App cloud target and deploy a release to it.
- [Rolling Deployments and Rolling Groups](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/rolling-deployments.md): Configure rolling deployments in Jaws Deploy: create a rolling group so one machine finishes several steps before the next begins, order machines by tag priority for a canary, and control what a failed machine stops.

## Guides: Variables & Configuration

- [The Power of Variables](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/the-power-of-variables.md): Why scoped variables remove most of the configuration pain teams hit in CI scripts.
- [Variable Resolution Rules](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/variable-resolution-rules.md): How Jaws Deploy picks a value when several scopes match the same variable.
- [Nested and Referenced Variables](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/nested-and-referenced-variables.md): Compose values from other variables and reuse them across steps and config files.
- [Using Variable Filters & Substitution Modes](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/variable-filters-and-modes.md): Learn every Jaws Deploy variable filter and conditional, how substitution modes behave, and how to migrate a workspace safely from Legacy to Extended syntax.
- [Output Variables](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/output-variables.md): How steps emit values and how later steps consume them by reference — no temp files or shared state between steps.
- [Variable Replacement in Files](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/variable-replacement-in-files.md): Set up variable replacement in Jaws Deploy: token-based #{...} placeholders, hierarchy-based JSON matching, and file listing with globbing for the Deploy package step.

## Guides: Releases & Lifecycles

- [Creating Releases](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/creating-releases.md): What a release captures, when to create one, and how to drive creation from CI.
- [Executing Deployments](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/executing-deployments.md): What happens when a release is deployed - target resolution, step execution, and live logs.
- [Release Progression with Lifecycles](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/release-progression-with-lifecycles.md): Define the ordered phases a release must walk through before it reaches production.
- [Deployment History and Auditing](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/deployment-history-and-auditing.md): Use deployment history to investigate incidents, prove what shipped, and answer auditor questions.
- [Channel Version Rules](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/channel-version-rules.md): Filter releases and packages per channel in Jaws Deploy: bound the version number with a range, allow or exclude prereleases, add ordered package version rules, and let the release form suggest and enforce compliant versions.

## Guides: Packages

- [Using Package Feeds](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/using-package-feeds.md): How feeds, packages, and deployment steps fit together in a release.
- [Built-in Package Store](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/built-in-package-store.md): Push artefacts straight to the Jaws Deploy built-in feed without standing up a separate registry.
- [Connecting External Feeds](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/connecting-external-feeds.md): Point Jaws Deploy at the artefact server you already run - NuGet, Artifactory, S3, Azure Artifacts.
- [Regional Package Delivery](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/regional-package-delivery.md): Reduce cross-region transfer for Jaws Deploy: set a workspace package store location (region) for the built-in feed, and enable direct agent downloads from private feeds so bytes stay near your servers.

## Guides: Self-Hosting & Admin

- [Installation Guide (Jaws Deploy Stack)](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/installation-guide.md): Install the self-hosted Jaws Deploy Stack on a Windows or Linux server.
- [Installing the Jaws Deploy Agent](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/installing-jaws-deploy-agent.md): Install the agent on Windows and Linux machines so they can receive deployments.
- [Setting Up a Proxy for Stack](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/setting-up-proxy-for-stack.md): Run Jaws Deploy Stack behind a reverse proxy (nginx, IIS, Apache) with HTTPS.
- [Adding OIDC to Stack](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/adding-oidc-to-stack.md): Authenticate Stack users through Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace, or any OIDC provider.
- [Service Accounts and Automation](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/service-accounts-and-automation.md): Create non-human identities for CI tools and automation scripts that call the REST API.

## Guides: Migration & Comparisons

- [Migrating from Octopus Deploy](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/guides/migrating-from-octopus-deploy.md): What carries over cleanly, what changes in shape, and where to start.

## REST API

- [OpenAPI document](https://app.jawsdeploy.net/api/openapi.json): OpenAPI 3.1 description of every endpoint, parameter and response, with descriptions. The most complete machine-readable reference.
- [Introduction](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/introduction.md): What the Jaws Deploy REST API is for, and how the docs are organized.
- [Authentication](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/authentication.md): How service accounts authenticate against the REST API.
- [Who am I](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/who-am-i.md): Return the service account the request authenticated as, and the organization it belongs to.
- [Errors and validation](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/errors.md): How error responses are shaped and how to read them.
- [Workspace, projects, environments](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/working-with-resources.md): How the core resource graph fits together when calling the API.
- [Package types and naming](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/package-types.md): Supported package formats and the filename convention.
- [Upload a package](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/package-store-upload.md): Push a build artifact into the workspace feed.
- [Create a release](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/releases-create.md): Create a Jaws Deploy release over the REST API, including how the resolved channel's version rules shape the proposed version, the default package versions, and validation.
- [Deploy a release](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/releases-deploy.md): Run an existing release against one or more environments.
- [Promote a release](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/releases-promote.md): Promote the latest (or a specific) version of a project to one or more environments.
- [Get deployment status](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/deployments-status.md): Fetch live status and logs for a running or completed deployment.
- [List deployments](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api/deployments-list.md): Page through the deployments of a workspace, a project or a single release, and poll for what has changed.
- [All endpoints](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/rest-api): Browsable reference grouped by resource; every endpoint page also has a .md version.

## Features

- [Deployment Pipelines](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/deployment-pipelines.md): Define repeatable deployment pipelines with ordered steps, reusable templates, PowerShell scripts, and per-target execution.
- [Rolling Deployments](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/rolling-deployments.md): Roll a whole run of steps across your fleet one machine at a time, with machine ordering, a canary barrier, and a machine-by-step rollout summary.
- [Environments & Targets](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/environments-targets.md): Model environments, machines, cloud targets, and role tags directly in Jaws Deploy.
- [Variables & Secrets](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/variables.md): Scoped configuration values for environments, targets, tags, steps, and deployment context — plus output variables passed between steps.
- [Variable Filters & Substitution Modes](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/variable-filters-and-modes.md): Format, escape, compare, and conditionally render Jaws Deploy variables with workspace-level compatibility and unresolved-token modes.
- [Releases & Promotions](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/releases-promotions.md): Build an immutable release once, then promote it through Dev -> Staging -> Production.
- [Live Deployment Logs](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/live-deployment-logs.md): Watch deployments as they run.
- [Deployment History & Insights](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/deployment-history.md): Browse every past release and deployment with full logs, timing, variable snapshots, and step status.
- [Package Feeds / Artifact Store](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/package-feeds.md): Built-in NuGet package feed plus support for external feeds.
- [Regional Package Delivery](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/regional-package-delivery.md): Keep package bytes in-region with Jaws Deploy: pin a workspace package store to a region for the built-in feed, and enable direct agent downloads from private feeds.
- [Step Templates & Script Modules](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/step-templates-script-modules.md): Build reusable step templates with structured inputs, and share PowerShell utility functions across projects with script modules.
- [PowerShell & Python Scripting](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/scripting-powershell-python.md): Script Jaws Deploy steps in PowerShell 7, Windows PowerShell 5.1, or Python 3.
- [MCP Server](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/features/mcp.md): Jaws is a Model Context Protocol server.

## Optional

- [Integrations](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/platform/integrations.md): Connect Jaws Deploy to the CI systems and automation tools your team already uses.
- [Jaws Deploy Agents](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/platform/agents.md): Lightweight agents that connect deployment targets to Jaws Deploy.
- [Jaws Deploy Stack](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/platform/stack.md): Self-hosted deployment automation for teams that need isolation, control, or private infrastructure.
- [Jaws Deploy Cloud](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/platform/cloud.md): Fully managed deployment automation for teams that want to start quickly without operating the platform.
- [Small DevOps Teams](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/solutions/small-devops-teams.md): Jaws Deploy gives small teams the deployment workflow of a much larger org without the platform-team headcount.
- [Agencies & Software Houses](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/solutions/agencies.md): Reusable deployment patterns, per-client environment isolation, and a real audit trail for agencies running deployments across many client projects.
- [Regulated / Self-Hosted Teams](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/solutions/self-hosted-deployments.md): Run Jaws Deploy entirely inside your own infrastructure.
- [.NET & Windows Deployments](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/solutions/dotnet-windows-deployments.md): PowerShell-first deployment automation for Windows Server, IIS, .NET apps, and Windows services.
- [Octopus Deploy Alternative](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/solutions/octopus-deploy-alternative.md): Looking for an Octopus Deploy alternative? Jaws Deploy keeps the deployment model you like and trims the pricing, complexity, and platform-team overhead.
- [TeamCity Integration](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/solutions/teamcity-integration.md): Pair TeamCity with Jaws Deploy for environment-aware release automation.
- [Who we are](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/who-we-are): The company and team behind Jaws Deploy.
- [Trust and security](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/trust-security): Hosting, data handling, encryption, access control and sub-processors.
- [Professional services](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/services): Onboarding, custom integrations and migration help.
- [Contact](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/contact): Sales, support and product questions.
- [Changelog](https://www.jawsdeploy.net/changelog): Release notes for new features.