SDKs overview

Heroku primarily offers a robust Command Line Interface (CLI) as its official Software Development Kit, designed to streamline the management and deployment of applications on its platform. This CLI allows developers to interact with Heroku services, from creating new applications and provisioning databases to scaling dynos and inspecting logs, all from the command line interface. While Heroku supports various programming languages for application development, the core interaction with the platform itself is largely facilitated through this unified CLI tool, rather than language-specific client libraries for platform management.

The Heroku CLI is built to be language-agnostic, meaning it can manage applications written in any of Heroku's supported languages, including Ruby, Python, Node.js, Java, PHP, Go, Scala, and Clojure. This approach centralizes platform operations while allowing developers to use their preferred language and frameworks for application logic. Beyond the official CLI, Heroku's ecosystem also includes various community-contributed libraries and buildpacks that extend functionality or provide language-specific helpers for common tasks.

Official SDKs by language

Heroku's primary official SDK is the Heroku CLI. It is a standalone, cross-platform application that provides a consistent interface for managing Heroku resources across all supported programming languages. Unlike some cloud platforms that offer distinct SDKs for each language to interact with every API endpoint (e.g., AWS SDK for JavaScript), Heroku's model emphasizes the CLI as the central point of interaction for platform operations. Application-level interactions, such as database access or inter-service communication, are typically handled by standard libraries within the application's chosen language and framework, often augmented by Heroku's add-on ecosystem.

The following table details the official SDK offered by Heroku:

Language/Platform Package/Tool Install Command (Example) Maturity
Cross-platform (Node.js-based) Heroku CLI npm install -g heroku or standalone installer Stable, Actively Maintained

Installation

The Heroku CLI can be installed using several methods, depending on your operating system and preference. The recommended approach is to use the standalone installer for your specific OS, which includes all necessary dependencies. Alternatively, you can use package managers like npm or Homebrew.

Standalone Installers

Heroku provides dedicated installers for Windows, macOS, and Linux. These installers ensure that the CLI and its dependencies are correctly configured on your system.

Using npm (Node.js Package Manager)

If you have Node.js and npm installed, you can install the Heroku CLI globally:

npm install -g heroku

This method requires Node.js to be present on your system. For information on Node.js installation, refer to the official Node.js download page.

Using Homebrew (macOS)

On macOS, Homebrew is a popular package manager for installing command-line tools. You can install the Heroku CLI using Homebrew:

brew tap heroku/brew && brew install heroku

Verifying Installation

After installation, open your terminal and run the following command to verify that the Heroku CLI is correctly installed and to check its version:

heroku --version

You should see output similar to heroku/x.y.z platform-specific-version.

Quickstart example

This quickstart demonstrates how to deploy a basic Node.js application to Heroku using the Heroku CLI. This process involves logging in, creating a new Heroku application, linking it to your local Git repository, and pushing your code.

Prerequisites

  • Heroku CLI installed and verified.
  • A Heroku account.
  • Git installed.
  • A simple Node.js application with a package.json and a start script (e.g., node index.js) and a Procfile defining the web process (e.g., web: node index.js).

Step-by-step deployment

1. Log in to Heroku

Open your terminal and log in to your Heroku account. This command will open a web browser for authentication.

heroku login

2. Create a new Heroku application

Navigate to your application's root directory in the terminal. Create a new Heroku application. Heroku will generate a unique name for your app or you can specify one.

heroku create my-unique-app-name

This command also adds a Git remote named heroku to your local repository.

3. Prepare your application for deployment

Ensure your application has a Procfile in its root directory, specifying how Heroku should run your application. For a Node.js web app, it might look like this:

web: node index.js

4. Deploy your code

Commit your changes to your local Git repository and then push your code to the Heroku remote.


git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git push heroku main

Heroku will detect your application's language, install dependencies, and deploy it. You'll see build logs in your terminal.

5. Open your application

Once deployed, you can open your application in your web browser using the following command:

heroku open

This command will open the URL provided by Heroku for your deployed application.

6. View logs (optional)

To view real-time logs for your application, which can be useful for debugging:

heroku logs --tail

Community libraries

While the Heroku CLI is the official tool for platform interaction, the Heroku ecosystem benefits from a variety of community-contributed libraries, buildpacks, and tools. These often serve to integrate Heroku's specific environment variables, add-on services, or deployment patterns more seamlessly into different programming languages or frameworks.

  • Buildpacks: Community-maintained buildpacks extend Heroku's ability to detect and build applications for specific languages, frameworks, or even custom build processes. Examples include buildpacks for specific versions of Python, Ruby, or Node.js, or for integrating front-end build steps. Developers can find, use, or contribute to these on platforms like GitHub. A notable example is the official Node.js Buildpack, which also has community forks and variations.
  • Language-specific helpers: For certain tasks, community libraries might abstract away Heroku-specific environment variable parsing or database connection string handling. For instance, in Ruby on Rails applications, the Rails framework itself often handles database connections through configuration files that Heroku's environment variables populate, but community gems might offer specific Heroku-aware utilities.
  • Deployment automation scripts: Beyond the basic git push heroku main, developers often create custom scripts or integrate with CI/CD tools to automate more complex deployment workflows, including pre-deploy checks, database migrations, or post-deploy health checks. These are often shared as open-source projects or gists within the community.
  • Monitoring and logging integrations: While Heroku offers its own logging and monitoring, community libraries sometimes provide more tailored integrations with third-party services, allowing developers to push Heroku logs or metrics into external systems like Datadog or Grafana, often through custom log drains or API clients.

Developers looking for specific language integrations or utilities are encouraged to search Heroku's Dev Center, GitHub, and relevant language-specific communities (e.g., RubyGems for Ruby, PyPI for Python) for tools that align with their needs. The open-source nature of many of these tools allows for community collaboration and adaptation.