diff --git a/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/.dockerignore b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ce5a494ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+**/node_modules
+**/build
+**/.env
+**/.env.*
diff --git a/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/Dockerfile b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ba9bb7c3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Build the React client
+FROM node:20-bookworm-slim AS client
+WORKDIR /client
+COPY client/package*.json ./
+RUN npm install
+COPY client/ ./
+# Empty API URL: the client calls the server on its own origin
+ENV REACT_APP_API_URL=""
+RUN npm run build
+
+# Run the API server, which also serves the built client
+FROM node:20-alpine
+WORKDIR /app
+COPY server/package*.json ./
+RUN npm install --omit=dev
+COPY server/ ./
+COPY --from=client /client/build ./public
+EXPOSE 3010
+CMD ["node", "index.js"]
diff --git a/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/README.md b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/README.md
index 6059fbc57..bc4cf1c85 100644
--- a/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/README.md
+++ b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/README.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 This sample project demonstrates how to deploy a full-stack application using React for the frontend, Node.js for the backend, and PostgreSQL for the database. 
 
-In this sample, we have set up the essential files you need to deploy in production using [Neon](https://neon.tech/) to host your database. We use a connection string to connect Neon to your code. By replacing the pre-configured connection string at .env and at the compose file to yours, you will be ready to deploy this sample with Neon.
+In production, the Node.js server also serves the built React app, so one service handles both the UI and the API. The database is a Defang managed Postgres instance.
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
@@ -30,14 +30,13 @@ For this sample, you will need to provide the following [configuration](https://
 
 > Note that if you are using the 1-click deploy option, you can set these values as secrets in your GitHub repository and the action will automatically deploy them for you.
 
-### `DATABASE_URL`
-A connection to the database, which should be in the format of `postgres://username:password@host:port/dbname`.
+### `POSTGRES_PASSWORD`
+The password for the Postgres database.
 ```bash
-defang config set DATABASE_URL
+defang config set POSTGRES_PASSWORD
 ```
 
-### `REACT_APP_API_URL`
-A URL for the React App. For this, you will need to update the `compose.yaml` file to replace `<YOUR_USERNAME>` with your username, which you can get by running `defang whoami`.
+The server connects to Postgres over SSL, as Defang managed Postgres requires. If you deploy to the Playground, where Postgres runs as a plain container, set `POSTGRES_SSL=false` on the `app` service.
 
 ## Deployment
 
diff --git a/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/compose.yaml b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/compose.yaml
index f9d791fa5..b5d065f47 100644
--- a/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/compose.yaml
+++ b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/compose.yaml
@@ -1,34 +1,45 @@
+name: nodejs-react-postgres
 services:
-  todo_list:
+  app:
     restart: unless-stopped
     build:
-      context: ./client
+      context: .
       dockerfile: Dockerfile
-      args:
-        - REACT_APP_API_URL=https://<YOUR_USERNAME>-server--3010.prod1.defang.dev
     ports:
       - mode: ingress
-        target: 3000
-        published: 3000
+        target: 3010
+        published: 3010
+    environment:
+      POSTGRES_HOST: db
+      POSTGRES_PASSWORD:
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "wget", "-qO-", "http://localhost:3010/todos"]
+      interval: 10s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 5
     deploy:
       resources:
         reservations:
-          memory: 1g
+          cpus: "0.5"
+          memory: 512M
     depends_on:
-      - server
-  server:
+      - db
+  db:
+    image: postgres:15
+    x-defang-postgres: true
     restart: unless-stopped
-    build:
-      context: ./server
-      dockerfile: Dockerfile
-    ports:
-      - target: 3010
-        mode: ingress
-        published: 3010
     environment:
-      - DATABASE_URL
+      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD
     deploy:
       resources:
         reservations:
           cpus: "0.5"
           memory: 512M
+    ports:
+      - mode: host
+        target: 5432
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres"]
+      interval: 10s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 5
diff --git a/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/server/db.js b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/server/db.js
index aaeff8a1e..691fe8285 100644
--- a/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/server/db.js
+++ b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/server/db.js
@@ -2,10 +2,19 @@ const Pool = require("pg").Pool;
 
 var parse = require('pg-connection-string').parse;
 
-var config = parse(process.env.DATABASE_URL)
+// DATABASE_URL (local dev) or, when deployed, POSTGRES_HOST and POSTGRES_PASSWORD
+var config = process.env.DATABASE_URL
+  ? parse(process.env.DATABASE_URL)
+  : {
+      host: process.env.POSTGRES_HOST || "localhost",
+      port: 5432,
+      user: "postgres",
+      password: process.env.POSTGRES_PASSWORD,
+      database: "postgres",
+      // Defang managed Postgres requires SSL; set POSTGRES_SSL=false for a plain Postgres
+      ssl: process.env.POSTGRES_SSL === "false" ? false : { rejectUnauthorized: false },
+    }
 
 const pool = new Pool(config)
 
-
-
-module.exports = pool;
\ No newline at end of file
+module.exports = pool;
diff --git a/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/server/index.js b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/server/index.js
index 5b176633f..1b3adbd04 100644
--- a/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/server/index.js
+++ b/samples/nodejs-react-postgres/server/index.js
@@ -5,13 +5,31 @@ const pool = require("./db")
 
 app.use(cors());
 app.use(express.json())
+app.use(express.static(__dirname + "/public"))
 
 const createData = `CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS todo(
   todo_id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
   description VARCHAR(255)
 )`
 
-pool.query(createData)
+// The database may not be reachable yet when the app starts, so retry
+async function initDb(retries = 30) {
+  for (let i = 0; ; i++) {
+    try {
+      await pool.query(createData)
+      return
+    } catch (error) {
+      if (i >= retries) throw error
+      console.error(`database not ready (${error.message}), retrying...`)
+      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 2000))
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+initDb().catch((error) => {
+  console.error(error)
+  process.exit(1)
+})
 
 
 //Routes
diff --git a/tools/testing/deployer/deployer.go b/tools/testing/deployer/deployer.go
index 9463beefc..cd793d57f 100644
--- a/tools/testing/deployer/deployer.go
+++ b/tools/testing/deployer/deployer.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package deployer
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -14,7 +15,6 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
-	"encoding/json"
 
 	"defang.io/tools/testing/detector"
 	"defang.io/tools/testing/logger"
@@ -223,8 +223,13 @@ func (d *CliDeployer) RunDeployTest(ctx context.Context, t test.TestInfo) (*test
 		return result, fmt.Errorf(result.Message)
 	}
 
-	result.TotalServices = len(services)
 	for _, svc := range services {
+		// Non-HTTP endpoints (e.g. a database's internal host:port) cannot be tested with a GET
+		if svc.Endpoint != "" && !strings.HasPrefix(svc.Endpoint, "http://") && !strings.HasPrefix(svc.Endpoint, "https://") {
+			log.Printf(" * Skipping non-HTTP endpoint %v of service %v", svc.Endpoint, svc.Service)
+			continue
+		}
+		result.TotalServices++
 		if svc.Endpoint == "" {
 			continue
 		}