GitHub and Heroku

You can use GitHub to store your prototype securely and Heroku to run it for user testing.

Setting up Git

You first need to follow the NHS prototype guidance on setting up Git.

Storing your code in GitHub

Prototypes should be stored as repositories in the GitHub NHS Digital organisation account.

You can find guidance on how to get access to the GitHub NHS Digital organisation on SharePoint.

Naming your prototype in GitHub

You should name your prototype to prevent people getting confused with production services. Use nhsapp-prototype- followed by the name of your service, for example: nhsapp-prototype-prescriptions

Using Heroku to host your prototype

Depending on what testing you plan to do with users, you might want to run your prototype as a website, rather than on your local device.

We use Heroku to host prototypes. To host an NHS App prototype on Heroku, you first need to store your code on GitHub, then contact the NHS App design system team, who will setup an Heroku app and URL for you.