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Deploy walkerOS to GCP Cloud Run

This guide deploys a walkerOS flow to Google Cloud Run, forwarding events to BigQuery.

Prerequisites​

1. Set Up BigQuery​

Follow the GCP BigQuery setup to:

For local testing, download a service account key. Production uses Workload Identity.

Enable Cloud Run API​

gcloud services enable run.googleapis.com

2. Bundle the Flow​

Install the CLI and bundle the flow with a Dockerfile:

npm install -g @walkeros/cli

# Set your environment variables
export GCP_PROJECT_ID="your-project-id"
export BQ_DATASET="walkerOS"
export BQ_TABLE="events"
export BQ_LOCATION="EU"

# Bundle the flow and generate Dockerfile
walkeros bundle https://www.walkeros.io/flows/gcp-bigquery.json --dockerfile

This creates dist/bundle.mjs and dist/Dockerfile.

Variable substitution

The flow uses ${VARIABLE} syntax. During bundling, these are replaced with your environment variable values. Required: GCP_PROJECT_ID. Optional with defaults: BQ_DATASET (walkerOS), BQ_TABLE (events), BQ_LOCATION (EU).

3. Test Locally with Docker​

Before deploying, verify everything works locally:

# Run locally (uses key file for auth)
docker run --rm \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -v $(pwd)/dist/bundle.mjs:/app/flow/bundle.mjs:ro \
  -v $(pwd)/sa-bigquery.json:/app/sa-bigquery.json:ro \
  -e GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/app/sa-bigquery.json \
  walkeros/flow:next

In another terminal, send a test event:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/collect \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "page view",
    "data": {
      "title": "Test Page",
      "path": "/test"
    }
  }'

Expected response:

{ "success": true, "timestamp": 1234567890 }

Check BigQuery for the event:

bq query --use_legacy_sql=false \
  "SELECT * FROM walkerOS.events WHERE DATE(timestamp) = CURRENT_DATE() ORDER BY timestamp DESC LIMIT 5"

4. Deploy to Cloud Run​

The Dockerfile was generated by --dockerfile. Cloud Run uses Workload Identity, so no credentials file is needed in the image.

Deploy with the service account attached:

cd dist

gcloud run deploy walkeros-flow \
  --source . \
  --port 8080 \
  --region europe-west1 \
  --allow-unauthenticated \
  --service-account=walkeros-flow@YOUR_PROJECT_ID.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
  --memory 512Mi \
  --cpu 1 \
  --min-instances 0 \
  --max-instances 10

Note the service URL from the output (e.g., https://walkeros-flow-xxx-ew.a.run.app).

5. Verify Deployment​

Health Check​

curl https://walkeros-flow-xxx-ew.a.run.app/health

Send Test Event​

curl -X POST https://walkeros-flow-xxx-ew.a.run.app/collect \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "page view",
    "data": {
      "title": "Production Test",
      "path": "/"
    }
  }'

Query BigQuery​

bq query --use_legacy_sql=false \
  "SELECT name, data, timestamp FROM walkerOS.events WHERE DATE(timestamp) = CURRENT_DATE() ORDER BY timestamp DESC LIMIT 5"

Next Steps​

Cleanup​

To remove all created resources:

  • Delete the Cloud Run service (gcloud run services delete walkeros-flow --region europe-west1)
  • Clean up BigQuery resources
  • Delete local files (dist/, sa-bigquery.json)
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