Parse Dashboard Example on Clever Cloud

This is a companion application to the parse-server-example project. It runs Parse Dashboard on Clever Cloud, providing a web UI to manage your Parse Server data.

About the Application

This application mounts Parse Dashboard on an Express.js server and exposes it at the /dashboard route. It is designed to connect to a Parse Server deployed on Clever Cloud using the parse-server-example project. You must deploy that project first, then link it to this dashboard using clever service link-app.

Technology Stack

• Express.js 5 - Web framework for Node.js
• Parse Dashboard 9 - Web-based management tool for Parse Server
• Node.js 24+

Prerequisites

• Node.js 24+
• npm
• A running instance of parse-server-example deployed on Clever Cloud

Running the Application Locally

npm install
npm start

The dashboard will be accessible at http://localhost:8080/dashboard.

The application requires the following environment variables to be set:

Variable	Description
PORT	Port to listen on
SERVER_URL	URL of your Parse Server instance
PARSE_APP_ID	Application ID configured on your Parse Server
APP_MASTER_KEY	Master key configured on your Parse Server
APP_NAME	Display name for the app in the dashboard
DASHBOARD_USER	Username for dashboard authentication
DASHBOARD_PASS	Password for dashboard authentication

Deploying on Clever Cloud

You have two options to deploy your application on Clever Cloud: using the Web Console or using the Clever Tools CLI.

Option 1: Deploy using the Web Console

1. Create an account on Clever Cloud

If you don't already have an account, go to the Clever Cloud console and follow the registration instructions.

2. Set up your application on Clever Cloud

1. Log in to the Clever Cloud console
2. Click on "Create" and select "An application"
3. Choose "Node.js" as the runtime environment
4. Configure your application settings (name, region, etc.)

3. Link and configure environment variables

1. In your application's dashboard, go to "Service dependencies"
2. Link your parse-server-example application to expose its environment variables (SERVER_URL, PARSE_APP_ID, APP_MASTER_KEY, APP_NAME)
3. Go to "Environment variables" and set DASHBOARD_USER and DASHBOARD_PASS for dashboard authentication

4. Deploy Your Application

You can deploy your application using Git:

# Add Clever Cloud as a remote repository
git remote add clever git+ssh://git@push-par-clevercloud-customers.services.clever-cloud.com/app_<your-app-id>.git

# Push your code to deploy
git push clever master

Option 2: Deploy using Clever Tools CLI

1. Install Clever Tools

Install the Clever Tools CLI following the official documentation:

# Using npm
npm install -g clever-tools

# Or using Homebrew (macOS)
brew install clever-tools

2. Log in to your Clever Cloud account

clever login

3. Create a new application

# Initialize the current directory as a Clever Cloud application
clever create --type node <YOUR_APP_NAME>

4. Link to your parse-server-example application

Link the Parse Server application you deployed using parse-server-example. Replace <YOUR_PARSE_SERVE_APP_NAME> with the name you gave it during deployment:

clever service link-app <YOUR_PARSE_SERVE_APP_NAME>

This automatically exposes the Parse Server's environment variables (SERVER_URL, PARSE_APP_ID, APP_MASTER_KEY, APP_NAME) to this dashboard application.

5. Set environment variables

clever env set DASHBOARD_USER <USERNAME>
clever env set DASHBOARD_PASS <PASSWORD>

6. Deploy your application

clever deploy

7. Open your application in a browser

clever open

The dashboard will be accessible at <DOMAIN_NAME>/dashboard.

Monitoring Your Application

Once deployed, you can monitor your application through:

• Web Console: The Clever Cloud console provides logs, metrics, and other tools to help you manage your application.
• CLI: Use clever logs to view application logs and clever status to check the status of your application.

Additional Resources

• Parse Dashboard Documentation
• Parse Server Documentation
• Clever Cloud Node.js Documentation
• Clever Cloud Documentation