Services and the workspace network

A service is a database, a queue or another server your agents use, such as PostgreSQL, Valkey or NATS from the Marketplace. It has an address and no screen, and it runs as its own Instance, so several desks can share it and it keeps running while they come and go.

Launch a service#

1. In Apps, press Launch on the service, or open Instances and press Launch an Instance.
2. Give it a Name. Under Network and identity, its Network name is filled in from the name: that's the name other Instances use to reach it, and it's fixed once launched.
3. Under Environment, set what the service needs, such as POSTGRES_PASSWORD, as a secret.
4. Press Launch, followed by its name.

The App's instructions, on its page, say which port it listens on and how to connect. Details: Launch and manage Instances.

Reach it by name#

Desks and services of the workspace on the same Compute reach a service by its network name, on its ports:

postgres:5432

So a desk's app, or its agent, connects to postgres:5432 rather than localhost. Hand your agent the name and the secret's variable, and it can connect.

Across Computes: the workspace network#

On Starter and above, all of a workspace's Computes can reach its services. They reach a service by its network name on the ports it declares under Ports at launch. Desktops are never reachable from another Compute.

Open the workspace's Settings and find Network across Computes. Choose:

Then press Save network.

For your AI#

An agent launches services with launch_instance and reaches them by name, the same way. To put a whole stack on Uremot, a database and a server beside its desk, the uremot-apps skill walks it through: uremot-apps.