This add-on is operated by Elm Insights
Helpful tools for your app within a Slack community of experts and developers.
Platform Experts
Last updated March 12, 2021
Table of Contents
Overview
Platform Experts is a collection of automated tools for your app as well as a Slack community of Heroku experts, application developers, and customers like yourself. It is created and run by the original Heroku Support team founders and is a place to find quick help and keep up with the latest in platform changes and best practices.
The Platform Experts automated tools can help with:
- Diagnosing common misconfigurations with your app
- Checking for proper SSL certificate configuration
- Providing production-ready advice on dyno configurations
While our automated tools are great, the Platform Experts Slack community can further help with:
- Scaling your app on Heroku
- Growing your database to accommodate customer needs
- Choosing the best add-on for your next feature release
- Understanding database connection limits
- Troubleshooting request timeouts
- Pretty much anything else Heroku-related!
Once provisioned, the Platform Experts add-on will provide a dashboard with an automated, mini assessment of your app. This will help to identify any common misconfigurations as well as provide considerations for a production ready app.
Provisioning Platform Experts
The best way to get started is to add our add-on to your application. This can be done on the command line, or via the Heroku Elements Marketplace.
Here is an example using the command line:
heroku addons:create platform-experts --app your_app_name
Adding the Platform Experts add-on to your app immediately grants you access to the Slack community. We generate a random display name for your app’s Slack account, which you can optionally change. See the next step for details.
Setup & Configuration
Once you’ve provisioned the add-on, you will need to open the Platform Experts Dashboard. You can do this in two ways. First, via the command line:
heroku addons:open platform-experts --app your_app_name
You can also access Platform Experts via your app’s resource list in the Heroku Dashboard.
Once at our Dashboard, you will see several things. At the top is an automated, mini app assessment. This looks at your app and checks for a few common misconfigurations, and notes recommended adjustments. This is meant to be a quick guide, while further questions and details can be discussed in the Slack community.
Under the Slack Settings section, you’ll notice there is a simple form that allows you to change your display name in Slack. We generate a random name for your account, but feel free to change it.
Our Dashboard also contains a link to sign in to our Slack Workspace. Clicking this link will take you directly into the Slack Community.
The Slack account is tied directly, one-to-one, to the app which has the Platform Experts add-on. Transferring the app to a new owner will also transfer the Slack account to the new owner.
I’ve Joined Slack - Now What?
Platform Experts is a community for you! Perhaps you need a very technical Heroku question answered. Or maybe you’re thinking long term about your app’s architecture. Whatever the question or issue, we’re here to help. Here are some common questions we’ve seen:
How do I get around the Heroku Postgres connection limits?
How do I choose the best dyno size for my app?
Which add-on is best for my needs?
Is it possible to do X on Heroku?
No matter your question or experience level with Heroku, ask away! We’re a friendly, helpful community who loves Heroku.
For break-fix support, platform, and application outages, you will need to contact Heroku Support. Heroku Support is for emergency issues - Platform Experts can help with everything else.
Interacting with the ExpertBot
Once you’ve joined the Platform Experts Slack community, you have access to the ExpertBot. This Slack Bot can provide insight and recommendations for your app (the app to which you’ve added the Platform Experts add-on).
To see a list of what is possible, just ask ExpertBot for help, like this:
@ExpertBot help
You’ll receive a Direct Message with further details on what is possible, and we’ll be copied on the response as well, to answer further questions you may have.
Removing Platform Experts
If you need to remove the Platform Experts add-on, you can do so using one of two methods.
Via the command line:
heroku addons:remove platform-experts --app your_app_name
Or, via the resources list in the Heroku Dashboard for your app:
https://dashboard.heroku.com/apps/your_app_name/resources
You will immediately lose access to the Slack community if you remove the Platform Experts add-on.
Support
For support with the Platform Experts add-on, please reach out via one of the Heroku support channels. If you have questions or issues with the Slack community, please contact us via email at support@platformexperts.dev.