Peon is an open-source deployment platform that allows users to deploy applications from Git repositories or Docker images to their own servers over SSH. It provides a self-hostable alternative to platforms like Vercel and Heroku, enabling users to maintain control over their infrastructure.

The platform addresses the need for developers and teams to deploy applications without relying on third-party PaaS services, offering features like TLS, backups, logs, and team workspaces on infrastructure they control.

Developers, DevOps engineers, and teams managing their own infrastructure use Peon to deploy applications to servers they own, such as Hetzner, DigitalOcean, or bare metal servers.

Peon works by leveraging a combination of a web dashboard, API, and background worker. The system uses Next.js for the frontend, Prisma for database interactions, and AWS SQS for queue management. Deployments are handled by a background worker that processes jobs from the queue, and the system includes a cron scheduler for periodic tasks.

Notable patterns include the use of a modular architecture with separate components for the dashboard, API, and worker, and the integration of various services like Docker, SSH, and database migrations. The project also includes security-focused features like encryption and secure handling of sensitive data.