Deployment Models

MergeWatch supports two deployment models. Each makes a different trade-off between setup effort, infrastructure control, and data residency. Pick the one that matches your compliance and operational requirements.

At a glance

Feature	Self-Hosted	Managed SaaS
Where it runs	Your infrastructure (Docker)	MergeWatch AWS account
Storage	Postgres (you manage)	DynamoDB (MergeWatch manages)
LLM provider	Your choice (Anthropic, Bedrock, Ollama, LiteLLM)	Amazon Bedrock (MergeWatch account)
Code leaves your infra?	No — all processing is local	Diff transits MergeWatch in-memory, not persisted
Billing	Free (you pay your LLM provider only)	5 free reviews (lifetime), then prepaid credits (≈ $0.01–$ 0.10 per review)
AWS account required?	No	No
Setup time	~15–30 min	~5 min
Dashboard	docker-compose second service	Next.js on Amplify (hosted by MergeWatch)

Self-hosted

Best for strict compliance, air-gapped environments, or full control

You run the MergeWatch Docker container on your own infrastructure. Nothing touches MergeWatch systems. You choose your LLM provider and manage your own database.

How it works

You run MergeWatch as a Docker container exposing an Express server on port 3000. A reverse proxy (nginx or Caddy) terminates TLS and routes GitHub webhooks to the container. Review data is stored in Postgres.

PR opened → GitHub webhook → Your Domain (nginx/Caddy) → Express Server (Docker, port 3000)
  → LLM Provider (your choice) → Review posted to GitHub
  → Postgres (review history)

What you manage

Resource	Your responsibility
Docker container	Deploying updates, monitoring, scaling replicas
Reverse proxy	TLS certificates, domain DNS, rate limiting
Postgres	Backups, migrations, connection pooling
LLM provider	API keys, quotas, cost monitoring
Dashboard	Second service in docker-compose, optional

Data residency

All data stays on your infrastructure. No data is sent to MergeWatch.
No telemetry, no phone-home, no external dependency beyond your chosen LLM provider.
Suitable for air-gapped environments when combined with a local LLM via Ollama.

Updates are applied by pulling the latest MergeWatch Docker image and restarting the container. You control when to upgrade.

Managed SaaS

Best for teams that want zero infrastructure overhead

Everything is hosted by MergeWatch. Install the GitHub App and start getting reviews. No AWS account, no Docker, no server management.

How it works

MergeWatch runs the full pipeline on AWS — API Gateway, Lambda functions, DynamoDB, and Bedrock. You install the GitHub App and configure your repositories. That is it.

PR opened → GitHub webhook → MergeWatch API Gateway
  → WebhookHandler Lambda (512 MB, 30s) → ReviewAgent Lambda (1024 MB, 300s)
  → Bedrock (us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-6)
  → Review posted to GitHub
  → DynamoDB (review history)

What you get

No AWS account required
No infrastructure to manage
Bedrock costs are included in your MergeWatch pricing
Automatic updates to the latest review pipeline
Dashboard hosted on Amplify at mergewatch.ai

Data residency

PR diffs are processed in-memory on MergeWatch Lambda functions (us-east-1). Diffs are not persisted after the review completes.
Bedrock calls run in MergeWatch’s AWS account. Model inputs and outputs are not logged or stored beyond the review lifecycle.
Review metadata (timestamps, repo, score) is stored in MergeWatch-managed DynamoDB with a 90-day TTL.

You can start with SaaS and migrate to self-hosted later without losing your configuration. Your .mergewatch.yml stays in your repo either way.

Decision guide

Strict compliance or air-gapped?

Choose Self-Hosted. No data leaves your infrastructure. You control every component and can run fully offline with a local LLM.

No infrastructure team?

Choose Managed SaaS. Install the GitHub App and you are done. No cloud account, no Docker, no server management. First 5 reviews free, then pay-as-you-go.

Data residency summary

Data type	Self-Hosted	Managed SaaS
PR diff	Never leaves your infrastructure	In-memory transit through MergeWatch, not persisted
LLM inputs/outputs	Your LLM provider	MergeWatch Bedrock account
Review metadata	Your Postgres	MergeWatch DynamoDB (90-day TTL)
GitHub credentials	Your environment variables	MergeWatch SSM Parameter Store
Configuration (.mergewatch.yml)	Your GitHub repo	Your GitHub repo

Self-Hosting Install

Deploy MergeWatch on your own infrastructure with Docker.

SaaS Getting Started

Install the GitHub App and start reviewing PRs in minutes.

Overview

Self-Hosting

LLM Providers

Platform Guides

Configuration

GitHub App

Deployment

Dashboard

Managed SaaS

Reference

At a glance

Self-hosted

Best for strict compliance, air-gapped environments, or full control

How it works

What you manage

Data residency

Managed SaaS

Best for teams that want zero infrastructure overhead

How it works

What you get

Data residency

Decision guide

Strict compliance or air-gapped?

No infrastructure team?

Data residency summary

Self-Hosting Install

SaaS Getting Started

​At a glance

​Self-hosted

Best for strict compliance, air-gapped environments, or full control

​How it works

​What you manage

​Data residency

​Managed SaaS

Best for teams that want zero infrastructure overhead

​How it works

​What you get

​Data residency

​Decision guide

Strict compliance or air-gapped?

No infrastructure team?

​Data residency summary

Self-Hosting Install

SaaS Getting Started

At a glance

Self-hosted

How it works

What you manage

Data residency

Managed SaaS

How it works

What you get

Data residency

Decision guide

Data residency summary