Deployment Guide

Choose the deployment method that best fits your needs.

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Deployment Options

Method	Difficulty	Cost	Best For
Vercel	⭐ Easy	Free - $20/mo	Quick launch, no DevOps
Docker	⭐⭐⭐ Advanced	~$6/mo VPS	Full control, consistent env
PM2	⭐⭐ Medium	~$6/mo VPS	Simple VPS, no containers

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Quick Comparison

Setup Time

Vercel:  ████░░░░░░  ~5 minutes
PM2:     ██████░░░░  ~30 minutes
Docker:  ████████░░  ~1 hour

Control vs Convenience

                    More Control
                         ▲
                         │
              Docker ────┼──── More Work
                         │
                PM2 ─────┤
                         │
             Vercel ─────┼──── Less Work
                         │
                         ▼
                   More Convenient

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Decision Guide

Choose Vercel if:

• ✅ You want the fastest deployment
• ✅ You don't want to manage servers
• ✅ Your app fits within serverless constraints
• ✅ You need automatic scaling
• ✅ Preview deployments are important

Choose Docker if:

• ✅ You need full control over infrastructure
• ✅ You want consistent environments (dev = prod)
• ✅ You plan to scale to multiple servers
• ✅ You need custom server configuration
• ✅ You want to avoid vendor lock-in

Choose PM2 if:

• ✅ You have a simple VPS
• ✅ You don't need containerization
• ✅ You want minimal overhead
• ✅ You're comfortable with Node.js
• ✅ You want easy debugging

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External Services (All Methods)

Regardless of deployment method, you'll need:

Service	Purpose	Free Tier
Neon	PostgreSQL	✅ Generous
Upstash	Redis	✅ 10K commands/day
Stripe	Payments	Pay per transaction
Resend	Email	✅ 100 emails/day
Cloudinary	Images	✅ 25K transformations
Google Cloud	OAuth	✅ Free

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Environment Variables

All deployment methods require these environment variables:

# Database
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://..."

# Auth
AUTH_SECRET="..."
NEXTAUTH_URL="https://yourdomain.com"

# Stripe
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY="sk_..."
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET="whsec_..."
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY="pk_..."

# Redis
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL="https://..."
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN="..."

# OAuth
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID="..."
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET="..."

# Email
RESEND_API_KEY="re_..."

# Images
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME="..."
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY="..."
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET="..."

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Post-Deployment Checklist

• Site loads over HTTPS
• User registration works
• Google OAuth works
• Test checkout completes (use 4242 4242 4242 4242)
• Webhook receives events (check Stripe dashboard)
• Admin panel accessible
• Emails sending correctly
• Images loading from Cloudinary

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Stripe Webhook Setup

After deployment, configure Stripe webhook:

1. Go to Stripe Dashboard
2. Click "Add endpoint"
3. Enter URL: https://yourdomain.com/api/webhooks/stripe
4. Select events:
   • checkout.session.completed
   • checkout.session.expired
5. Copy webhook signing secret to your environment variables

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Google OAuth Setup

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create or select a project
3. Enable "Google+ API"
4. Go to Credentials → Create OAuth Client ID
5. Add authorized redirect URI:
   • https://yourdomain.com/api/auth/callback/google
6. Copy Client ID and Secret to environment variables

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Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue	Cause	Solution
500 errors	Missing env vars	Check all variables are set
OAuth fails	Wrong redirect URI	Update Google Console
Payments fail	Wrong webhook URL	Update Stripe Dashboard
Images broken	Cloudinary not configured	Check cloud name
Auth loops	NEXTAUTH_URL mismatch	Match your actual domain

Debug Checklist

# 1. Check environment variables are loaded
# 2. Check database connection
# 3. Check Redis connection
# 4. Check Stripe webhook logs
# 5. Check application logs