Hetzner Cloud Provisioner
Automated infrastructure provisioning for Hetzner Cloud - the budget-friendly alternative to Vercel and AWS.
Purpose
Generate and deploy infrastructure-as-code (Terraform/Pulumi) for Hetzner Cloud, enabling $10-15/month SaaS deployments instead of $50-100/month on other platforms.
When to Use
Activates when user mentions:
- "deploy on Hetzner"
- "Hetzner Cloud"
- "budget deployment"
- "cheap hosting"
- "deploy for $10/month"
- "cost-effective infrastructure"
What It Does
- Analyzes requirements:
- Application type (NextJS, Node.js, Python, etc.) - Database needs (Postgres, MySQL, Redis) - Expected traffic/users - Budget constraints
- Generates Infrastructure-as-Code:
- Terraform configuration for Hetzner Cloud - Alternative: Pulumi for TypeScript-native IaC - Server instances (CX11, CX21, CX31) - Managed databases (Postgres, MySQL) - Object storage (if needed) - Networking (firewall rules, floating IPs)
- Configures Production Setup:
- Docker containerization - SSL certificates (Let's Encrypt) - DNS configuration (Cloudflare or Hetzner DNS) - GitHub Actions CI/CD pipeline - Monitoring (Uptime Kuma, self-hosted) - Automated backups
- Outputs Deployment Guide:
- Step-by-step deployment instructions - Cost breakdown - Monitoring URLs - Troubleshooting guide
⚠️ CRITICAL: Secrets Required (MANDATORY CHECK)
BEFORE generating Terraform/Pulumi code, CHECK for Hetzner API token.
Step 1: Check If Token Exists
# Check .env file
if [ -f .env ] && grep -q "HETZNER_API_TOKEN" .env; then
echo "✅ Hetzner API token found"
else
# Token NOT found - STOP and prompt user
fiStep 2: If Token Missing, STOP and Show This Message
🔐 **Hetzner API Token Required**
I need your Hetzner API token to provision infrastructure.
**How to get it**:
1. Go to: https://console.hetzner.cloud/
2. Click on your project (or create one)
3. Navigate to: Security → API Tokens
4. Click "Generate API Token"
5. Give it a name (e.g., "specweave-deployment")
6. Permissions: **Read & Write**
7. Click "Generate"
8. **Copy the token immediately** (you can't see it again!)
**Where I'll save it**:
- File: `.env` (gitignored, secure)
- Format: `HETZNER_API_TOKEN=your-token-here`
**Security**:
✅ .env is in .gitignore (never committed to git)
✅ Token is 64 characters, alphanumeric
✅ Stored locally only (not in source code)
Please paste your Hetzner API token:Step 3: Validate Token Format
# Hetzner tokens are 64 alphanumeric characters
if [[ ! "$HETZNER_API_TOKEN" =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9]{64}$ ]]; then
echo "⚠️ Warning: Token format unexpected"
echo "Expected: 64 alphanumeric characters"
echo "Got: ${#HETZNER_API_TOKEN} characters"
echo ""
echo "This might not be a valid Hetzner API token."
echo "Continue anyway? (yes/no)"
fiStep 4: Save Token Securely
# Save to .env
echo "HETZNER_API_TOKEN=$HETZNER_API_TOKEN" >> .env
# Ensure .env is gitignored
if ! grep -q "^\.env$" .gitignore; then
echo ".env" >> .gitignore
fi
# Create .env.example for team
cat > .env.example << 'EOF'
# Hetzner Cloud API Token
# Get from: https://console.hetzner.cloud/ → Security → API Tokens
HETZNER_API_TOKEN=your-hetzner-token-here
EOF
echo "✅ Token saved to .env (gitignored)"
echo "✅ Created .env.example for team (commit this)"Step 5: Use Token in Terraform
# terraform/variables.tf
variable "hetzner_token" {
description = "Hetzner Cloud API Token"
type = string
sensitive = true
}
# terraform/provider.tf
provider "hcloud" {
token = var.hetzner_token
}
# Run Terraform
# export TF_VAR_hetzner_token=$HETZNER_API_TOKEN
# terraform applyExample Usage
User: "Deploy my NextJS app on Hetzner with Postgres, as cheaply as possible"
hetzner-provisioner:
I'll provision your NextJS app on Hetzner Cloud for ~$12/month.
Infrastructure:
- CX11 instance (2 vCPU, 2GB RAM): $5.83/month
- Managed Postgres (2GB): $5.00/month
- 20GB storage: $0.50/month
- SSL (Let's Encrypt): Free
- Total: ~$11.33/month
Creating Terraform configuration...
✅ Generated files:
- terraform/main.tf
- terraform/variables.tf
- terraform/outputs.tf
- .github/workflows/deploy.yml
Next steps:
1. Set HETZNER_API_TOKEN in GitHub secrets
2. Push to GitHub
3. GitHub Actions will deploy automatically
Deployment URL: https://your-app.yourdomain.com (after DNS configured)Configuration
Supports multiple instance types:
- CX11 (1 vCPU, 2GB RAM): $5.83/month - Small apps, 100-1000 users
- CX21 (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM): $6.90/month - Medium apps, 1000-10000 users
- CX31 (2 vCPU, 8GB RAM): $14.28/month - Larger apps, 10000+ users
Database options:
- Managed Postgres (2GB): $5/month
- Managed MySQL (2GB): $5/month
- Self-hosted (included in instance cost)
Cost Comparison
| Platform | Small App | Medium App | Large App |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hetzner | $12/mo | $15/mo | $25/mo |
| Vercel | $60/mo | $120/mo | $240/mo |
| AWS | $25/mo | $80/mo | $200/mo |
| Railway | $20/mo | $50/mo | $100/mo |
Savings: 50-80% vs alternatives
Technical Details
Terraform Provider: hetznercloud/hcloud API: Hetzner Cloud API v1 Regions: Nuremberg, Falkenstein, Helsinki (Germany/Finland) Deployment: Docker + GitHub Actions Monitoring: Uptime Kuma (self-hosted, free)
Integration
Works with:
cost-optimizer- Recommends Hetzner when budget-consciousdevops-agent- Strategic infrastructure planningnextjs-agent- NextJS-specific deployment- Any backend framework (Node.js, Python, Go, etc.)
Limitations
- EU-only data centers (GDPR-friendly)
- Requires Hetzner Cloud account
- Manual DNS configuration needed
- Not suitable for multi-region deployments (use AWS/GCP for that)
Future Enhancements
- Kubernetes support (k3s on Hetzner)
- Load balancer configuration
- Multi-region deployment
- Disaster recovery setup