FAQ
General
What is np?
np is a deployment platform that bundles Nomad, Consul, Traefik, and OpenObserve into one coherent experience — operated through a single CLI command.
Who is np for?
Small-to-medium teams (3-100 servers, 20-500 services) who need production-grade deployment without production-grade complexity.
Is np open source?
Yes. MIT licensed. Core will always be free and open source.
How is np different from Kubernetes?
Kubernetes targets 100-10,000 node clusters with dedicated ops teams. np targets 3-100 node clusters with regular developers. Different category.
Deployment
Can I deploy Docker containers?
Yes. Use image: my-image:tag in np.yaml.
Can I deploy binaries directly?
Yes. Use binary: ./my-server in np.yaml. No Dockerfile needed.
Does np support rolling updates?
Yes. Nomad handles rolling updates natively. Configure with update: in np.yaml.
Can I set resource limits?
Yes. Use resources: in np.yaml — CPU in millicores, memory in MB.
Operations
How do I see logs?
np logs my-app
np logs -f my-app # followHow do I scale?
np scale my-app --count 5How do I rollback?
np deploy my-app --version previousWhat happens if a node dies?
Nomad reschedules allocations to healthy nodes. Consul detects the failure within seconds.
Hardware
What’s the minimum hardware?
A single Raspberry Pi 4 can run the full stack. For production, 3 servers (any x86_64 with 2 GB RAM) is recommended.
How many nodes can np manage?
100 nodes, 500+ services without any tuning. Beyond that, you’re in Kubernetes territory.
Does np work on ARM?
Yes. Nomad, Consul, Traefik, and OpenObserve all support ARM64.
Comparison
When should I use Kubernetes instead of np?
When you have 100+ nodes, need multi-cloud portability, or your team already has K8s expertise.
When should I use Docker Compose instead of np?
When you’re on a single machine for development only, and don’t need health checks, rolling updates, or multi-node.
Can I migrate from np to Kubernetes later?
Yes. Your applications don’t depend on np — they’re just binaries or containers. Migrate when you outgrow np.