Start deployment

Start a deployment that was previously stopped with stopDeployment, so it serves traffic again. The deployment keeps the configuration it had when it was stopped; nothing is rebuilt or redeployed.

The deployment must currently be stopped, and must belong to a non-production environment. Production deployments are never stopped, so they cannot be started.

Starting is asynchronous: this endpoint only enqueues the start and returns immediately. Poll getDeployment until the status reaches ready.

Required Permissions

Your root key must have one of the following permissions:

environment.*.start_deployment (to start deployments in any environment)
environment.<environment_id>.start_deployment (to start deployments in a specific environment)

POST

deployments.startDeployment

Python (SDK)

from unkey.py import Unkey


with Unkey(
    root_key="<YOUR_BEARER_TOKEN_HERE>",
) as unkey:

    res = unkey.deployments.start_deployment(deployment_id="d_1234abcd")

    # Handle response
    print(res)

import { Unkey } from "@unkey/api";

const unkey = new Unkey({
  rootKey: process.env["UNKEY_ROOT_KEY"] ?? "",
});

async function run() {
  const result = await unkey.deployments.startDeployment({
    deploymentId: "d_1234abcd",
  });

  console.log(result);
}

run();

package main

import(
	"context"
	"os"
	unkey "github.com/unkeyed/sdks/api/go/v2"
	"github.com/unkeyed/sdks/api/go/v2/models/components"
	"log"
)

func main() {
    ctx := context.Background()

    s := unkey.New(
        unkey.WithSecurity(os.Getenv("UNKEY_ROOT_KEY")),
    )

    res, err := s.Deployments.StartDeployment(ctx, components.V2DeploymentsStartDeploymentRequestBody{
        DeploymentID: "d_1234abcd",
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    if res.V2DeploymentsStartDeploymentResponseBody != nil {
        // handle response
    }
}

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.unkey.com/v2/deployments.startDeployment \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '
{
  "deploymentId": "d_1234abcd"
}
'

const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {Authorization: 'Bearer <token>', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
  body: JSON.stringify({deploymentId: 'd_1234abcd'})
};

fetch('https://api.unkey.com/v2/deployments.startDeployment', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.unkey.com/v2/deployments.startDeployment",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
    'deploymentId' => 'd_1234abcd'
  ]),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Authorization: Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type: application/json"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://api.unkey.com/v2/deployments.startDeployment")
  .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"deploymentId\": \"d_1234abcd\"\n}")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.unkey.com/v2/deployments.startDeployment")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Authorization"] = 'Bearer <token>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"deploymentId\": \"d_1234abcd\"\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "data": {},
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_1234abcd"
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found",
    "errors": [
      {
        "location": "body.permissions[0].name",
        "message": "Must be at least 3 characters long",
        "fix": "Ensure the name uses only alphanumeric characters, underscores, and hyphens"
      }
    ]
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found"
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found"
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found"
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found"
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found"
  }
}

Authorizations

Authorization

string

header

required

Unkey uses bearer tokens for authentication. Public integrations use root keys, while the dashboard proxy uses short-lived JWTs. To authenticate, include the token in the Authorization header of each request:

Authorization: Bearer unkey_123

Root keys have specific permissions attached to them, controlling what operations they can perform. Legacy permissions use tuple strings like api.*.create_key; resource permissions use Unkey Resource Names plus actions, like unkey:v1:ws_123:keyspaces/*#create_key. Security best practices:

Keep root keys secure and never expose them in client-side code
Use different root keys for different environments
Rotate keys periodically, especially after team member departures
Create keys with minimal necessary permissions following least privilege principle
Monitor key usage with audit logs.

Body

application/json

Start a stopped preview deployment so it serves traffic again.

deploymentId

string

required

The stopped deployment to start.

Required string length: 3 - 255

Pattern: ^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$

Example:

"proj_1234abcd"

Response

Start accepted and enqueued. The deployment transitions to ready asynchronously; poll getDeployment to observe the transition.

meta

object

required

Metadata object included in every API response. This provides context about the request and is essential for debugging, audit trails, and support inquiries. The requestId is particularly important when troubleshooting issues with the Unkey support team.

Show child attributes

data

object

required

Empty response object by design. A successful response indicates this operation was successfully executed.

Last modified on July 22, 2026

Stop deploymentStop a running preview deployment. Stopped deployments keep their configuration and can be resumed later with `startDeployment`. The deployment must be ready and running, and must belong to a non-production environment; production deployments cannot be stopped. A deployment that is already draining from a previous stop is rejected with a precondition error. Stopping is asynchronous: this endpoint only enqueues the stop and returns immediately. Poll `getDeployment` until the status reaches `stopped`. **Required Permissions** Your root key must have one of the following permissions: - `environment.*.stop_deployment` (to stop deployments in any environment) - `environment.<environment_id>.stop_deployment` (to stop deployments in a specific environment)

⌘I

Python (SDK)

from unkey.py import Unkey


with Unkey(
    root_key="<YOUR_BEARER_TOKEN_HERE>",
) as unkey:

    res = unkey.deployments.start_deployment(deployment_id="d_1234abcd")

    # Handle response
    print(res)

import { Unkey } from "@unkey/api";

const unkey = new Unkey({
  rootKey: process.env["UNKEY_ROOT_KEY"] ?? "",
});

async function run() {
  const result = await unkey.deployments.startDeployment({
    deploymentId: "d_1234abcd",
  });

  console.log(result);
}

run();

package main

import(
	"context"
	"os"
	unkey "github.com/unkeyed/sdks/api/go/v2"
	"github.com/unkeyed/sdks/api/go/v2/models/components"
	"log"
)

func main() {
    ctx := context.Background()

    s := unkey.New(
        unkey.WithSecurity(os.Getenv("UNKEY_ROOT_KEY")),
    )

    res, err := s.Deployments.StartDeployment(ctx, components.V2DeploymentsStartDeploymentRequestBody{
        DeploymentID: "d_1234abcd",
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    if res.V2DeploymentsStartDeploymentResponseBody != nil {
        // handle response
    }
}

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.unkey.com/v2/deployments.startDeployment \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '
{
  "deploymentId": "d_1234abcd"
}
'

const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {Authorization: 'Bearer <token>', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
  body: JSON.stringify({deploymentId: 'd_1234abcd'})
};

fetch('https://api.unkey.com/v2/deployments.startDeployment', options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.unkey.com/v2/deployments.startDeployment",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
    'deploymentId' => 'd_1234abcd'
  ]),
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Authorization: Bearer <token>",
    "Content-Type: application/json"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://api.unkey.com/v2/deployments.startDeployment")
  .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\n  \"deploymentId\": \"d_1234abcd\"\n}")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.unkey.com/v2/deployments.startDeployment")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Authorization"] = 'Bearer <token>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\n  \"deploymentId\": \"d_1234abcd\"\n}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "data": {},
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_1234abcd"
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found",
    "errors": [
      {
        "location": "body.permissions[0].name",
        "message": "Must be at least 3 characters long",
        "fix": "Ensure the name uses only alphanumeric characters, underscores, and hyphens"
      }
    ]
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found"
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found"
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found"
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found"
  }
}

{
  "meta": {
    "requestId": "req_123"
  },
  "error": {
    "detail": "Property foo is required but is missing.",
    "status": 404,
    "title": "Not Found",
    "type": "https://unkey.com/docs/errors/unkey/resource/not_found"
  }
}