Skip to main content
When you build an app, not everything can safely or efficiently happen on the user’s device. Some tasks need extra security, reliability, or power. That is where server functions (sometimes called edge functions) come in. Server functions handle important work behind the scenes, like talking to your database, checking permissions, or processing payments. Instead of running this logic directly in a user’s browser or mobile app, where it could be slower or less secure, the function runs on a server. This keeps sensitive information safe and ensures your app behaves the same way for every user. Think of them as trusted helpers that live outside the app, but make sure everything runs smoothly. By using server functions, you can build apps that are faster, safer, and easier to maintain.

​
View Server Functions

To open the Secrets settings for your project’s database, follow these steps:
Screenshot of Server Functions screen in Bolt.
  1. Log in to your Bolt project.
  2. Click the database icon in the top center of your screen.
  3. Click Server Functions in the left menu.
The Server Functions screen displays all server-side (edge) functions currently deployed. This is helpful for debugging and tracking the backend logic that runs alongside your database. Situations where server functions may add value include:
  • Authenticated or public HTTP endpoints that need low latency.
  • Webhook receivers (Stripe, GitHub, etc.).
  • On-demand image or Open Graph generation.
  • Small AI inference tasks or orchestrating calls to external LLM APIs (like OpenAI)
  • Sending transactional emails.
  • Building messaging bots for Slack, Discord, etc.

​
View logs

Bolt allows you to view logs for your server functions. To do so, scroll to the right in a function’s row, then click View Logs, as shown in the screenshot below:
Screenshot of logs screen in Server Functions screen in Bolt.
After opening a log, you can view details for any individual record by clicking View Log Details to see its JSON record, as shown in the screenshot below:
Screenshot of JSON server function log details in Bolt.