Deployment

Deploy your application to production with this comprehensive guide.

Pre-Deployment Checklist

Before deploying, ensure you have:

Database

Production database ready (Neon, Supabase, etc.)
Database backups configured
Connection pooling enabled
SSL connections configured

Environment Variables

All required env vars set
Production secrets generated
API keys for production services
NODE_ENV=production

Services

Stripe live keys configured
Email provider production account
UploadThing production token
OAuth apps configured for production URLs

Code

Security

Security headers enabled
HTTPS enforced
Secrets rotated from development
Admin accounts secured

Deployment Options

Vercel (Recommended)

Vercel is the easiest option for Next.js applications.

1. Install Vercel CLI

npm i -g vercel

vercel login

3. Deploy

# From project root
cd nextjs-starter-kit
vercel

Follow prompts to link project.

4. Set Environment Variables

Option A: Vercel CLI

vercel env add BETTER_AUTH_SECRET
# Paste value when prompted

vercel env add DATABASE_URL
vercel env add STRIPE_SECRET_KEY
# ... add all env vars

Option B: Vercel Dashboard

Go to project settings
Navigate to Environment Variables
Add each variable
Select environments (Production, Preview, Development)

5. Deploy to Production

vercel --prod

Your app will be live at https://your-project.vercel.app!

6. Custom Domain

Go to project settings > Domains
Add your custom domain
Configure DNS records
Update BETTER_AUTH_URL and NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL

vercel env add BETTER_AUTH_URL production
# Enter: https://yourdomain.com

vercel env add NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL production
# Enter: https://yourdomain.com

Other Platforms

The app can also be deployed to:

Railway

# Install Railway CLI
npm i -g @railway/cli

# Login
railway login

# Initialize project
railway init

# Add env vars in Railway dashboard
# Deploy
railway up

Netlify

# Install Netlify CLI
npm i -g netlify-cli

# Login
netlify login

# Deploy
netlify deploy --prod

Docker

# Dockerfile
FROM node:20-alpine AS base

# Install dependencies only when needed
FROM base AS deps
RUN apk add --no-cache libc6-compat
WORKDIR /app

COPY package.json pnpm-lock.yaml ./
RUN corepack enable pnpm && pnpm i --frozen-lockfile

# Build the app
FROM base AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=deps /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY . .

RUN corepack enable pnpm && pnpm build

# Production image
FROM base AS runner
WORKDIR /app

ENV NODE_ENV production

RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs
RUN adduser --system --uid 1001 nextjs

COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/static ./.next/static

USER nextjs

EXPOSE 3000

ENV PORT 3000

CMD ["node", "server.js"]

# Build
docker build -t nextjs-starter .

# Run
docker run -p 3000:3000 --env-file .env nextjs-starter

Database Migration

Neon (Recommended)

Create production database at neon.tech
Copy connection string
Add to Vercel env vars

vercel env add DATABASE_URL production
# Paste Neon connection string

Push schema

# Set DB URL temporarily for migration
export DATABASE_URL="your-production-db-url"
pnpm db:push

Supabase

Create project at supabase.com
Get connection string from Settings > Database
Add to environment variables
Run migrations

Stripe Configuration

1. Switch to Live Mode

In Stripe Dashboard, toggle to "Live mode".

2. Update API Keys

vercel env add STRIPE_SECRET_KEY production
# Enter live secret key (sk_live_...)

vercel env add STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY production
# Enter live publishable key (pk_live_...)

3. Create Products & Prices

Create products in live mode with same structure as test mode.

4. Update Price IDs

vercel env add STRIPE_PRICE_PRO_MONTHLY production
vercel env add STRIPE_PRICE_PRO_YEARLY production
vercel env add STRIPE_PRICE_STARTUP_MONTHLY production
vercel env add STRIPE_PRICE_STARTUP_YEARLY production

5. Configure Webhook

Go to Developers > Webhooks
Add endpoint: https://yourdomain.com/api/stripe/webhook
Select all subscription and invoice events
Copy signing secret

vercel env add STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET production
# Paste webhook secret

Email Configuration

Resend (Recommended for Production)

Verify your domain at resend.com
Get production API key
Configure:

vercel env add EMAIL_PROVIDER production
# Enter: resend

vercel env add RESEND_API_KEY production
# Enter API key

vercel env add EMAIL_FROM production
# Enter: Your App <noreply@yourdomain.com>

Other Providers

Configure similarly with production credentials.

OAuth Configuration

Google OAuth

Go to Google Cloud Console
Update OAuth consent screen
Add authorized redirect URI:
- https://yourdomain.com/api/auth/callback/google
Get production credentials
Add to Vercel:

vercel env add GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID production
vercel env add GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET production

GitHub OAuth

Go to GitHub OAuth Apps
Create new app or update existing
Set callback URL: https://yourdomain.com/api/auth/callback/github
Add credentials to Vercel

Post-Deployment Steps

1. Verify Deployment

Check your deployed app:

✅ Homepage loads
✅ Sign up works
✅ Sign in works
✅ OAuth works
✅ Email sending works
✅ Blog posts display
✅ Admin dashboard accessible

2. Create Admin Account

Sign up with your admin email
SSH into server or use Vercel CLI

# Run admin setup script
vercel env pull # Get env vars locally
pnpm admin:setup

Or manually update user role in database.

3. Seed Production Data

# Run setup script
pnpm project:setup

# Or individually
pnpm plans:setup
pnpm blog:seed
pnpm testimonials:seed

4. Test Critical Flows

Authentication: Sign up, sign in, password reset
Subscriptions: Create test subscription
Webhooks: Verify Stripe webhooks work
Emails: Send test emails
File Uploads: Upload test files

5. Monitor

Set up monitoring:

Vercel Analytics
Sentry for error tracking
Uptime monitoring (UptimeRobot, Pingdom)
Log aggregation (LogDNA, Datadog)

Security Headers

Verify security headers are enabled in production:

curl -I https://yourdomain.com

Should include:

Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000
X-Frame-Options: DENY
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
Content-Security-Policy: ...

Performance Optimization

Enable Edge Caching

Configure Next.js to use edge caching:

// app/blog/page.tsx
export const revalidate = 3600; // Revalidate every hour

Image Optimization

Images are auto-optimized by Next.js Image component.

CDN

Vercel automatically uses CDN for static assets.

Database Connection Pooling

Enable connection pooling in database settings for better performance.

Monitoring & Maintenance

Logs

View logs in Vercel Dashboard > Functions > Logs.

Error Tracking

Install Sentry:

pnpm add @sentry/nextjs

// sentry.client.config.ts
import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nextjs";

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN,
  tracesSampleRate: 1.0,
});

Uptime Monitoring

Set up alerts for downtime:

UptimeRobot (free)
Pingdom
Vercel built-in monitoring

Backup Strategy

Database: Daily automated backups (Neon/Supabase)
User uploads: S3/R2 with versioning
Code: Git repository
Environment vars: Secure vault

Rollback Strategy

Vercel

Go to Deployments
Find working deployment
Click "..." > Promote to Production

Manual

# Revert to previous commit
git revert HEAD
git push

# Or
git reset --hard <commit-hash>
git push --force

Scaling

Database

Upgrade Neon/Supabase plan
Enable connection pooling
Add read replicas
Index frequently queried columns

Application

Vercel auto-scales. For other platforms:

Horizontal scaling (multiple instances)
Load balancer
Cache frequently accessed data

File Storage

Use CDN for uploads
Implement lazy loading
Compress images

Cost Optimization

Vercel

Free tier: Hobby projects
Pro ($20/month): Small apps
Enterprise: Large apps

Database

Neon: Free tier available, pay as you grow
Supabase: Free tier, then $25/month

Other Services

Resend: 100 emails/day free
UploadThing: 2GB free
OpenRouter: Free models available

Troubleshooting

Build Failures

Check build logs in Vercel dashboard. Common issues:

Missing environment variables
TypeScript errors
Dependency issues

Database Connection Errors

Verify connection string
Check database is running
Ensure IP allowlist includes Vercel IPs
Enable SSL

Webhook Issues

Verify endpoint is accessible (HTTPS)
Check webhook secret matches
Review Stripe webhook logs

Email Not Sending

Verify domain is verified with provider
Check API keys are correct
Review email logs in provider dashboard

Best Practices

Use Environment Variables - Never hardcode secrets
Enable HTTPS - Always use secure connections
Monitor Errors - Set up error tracking
Regular Backups - Automate database backups
Update Dependencies - Keep packages up-to-date
Test Before Deploy - Run tests in CI/CD
Gradual Rollout - Use preview deployments
Document Changes - Keep changelog updated

CI/CD Pipeline

GitHub Actions

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: "20"
      - uses: pnpm/action-setup@v2

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm install

      - name: Run tests
        run: pnpm test

      - name: Build
        run: pnpm build

      - name: Deploy to Vercel
        run: vercel --prod --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }}

Deployment

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