Deployment

This guide covers deploying Scira to production environments, including Vercel, Docker-based deployments, and custom infrastructure.

Vercel Deployment (Recommended)

The easiest way to deploy Scira is using Vercel’s one-click deployment:

Click the Deploy button

Click the “Deploy with Vercel” button above to start the deployment process.

Configure environment variables

Vercel will prompt you to configure the required environment variables. See the Environment Variables guide for details on each variable.At minimum, you’ll need:

OPENAI_API_KEY
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
DATABASE_URL
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET
REDIS_URL

Deploy

Click “Deploy” and Vercel will:

Clone the repository
Install dependencies
Build the application
Deploy to production

Run database migrations

After deployment, run database migrations:

pnpm drizzle-kit push

Vercel Configuration

Scira is optimized for Vercel with the following Next.js configuration:

Output: Standalone mode for optimal performance
Server Actions: 20MB body size limit for file uploads
Image Optimization: Configured for various external image sources
Edge Config: Support for Vercel Edge Config
Analytics: Built-in Vercel Analytics and Speed Insights integration

Docker Deployment

Production Docker Setup

For Docker-based production deployments:

Prepare environment file

Create a .env file with all required environment variables:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and configure all production values.

Build the production image

Build the Docker image:

docker build -t scira.app:production .

The multi-stage Dockerfile optimizes for:

Small image size - Uses Alpine Linux and output tracing
Security - Runs as non-root user
Performance - Standalone Next.js build

Run the container

Start the container:

docker run -d \
  --name scira \
  --env-file .env \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  scira.app:production

Docker Compose Production

For orchestrating multiple containers:

version: '3.8'

services:
  scira.app:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - '3000:3000'
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - PORT=3000
      - HOSTNAME=0.0.0.0
    env_file:
      - .env
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - postgres
      - redis

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: scira
      POSTGRES_USER: scira
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    restart: unless-stopped

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  postgres_data:

Container Health Checks

Add health checks to your Docker setup:

HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s --start-period=40s --retries=3 \
  CMD node -e "require('http').get('http://localhost:3000/api/health', (r) => r.statusCode === 200 ? process.exit(0) : process.exit(1))"

Environment Setup

Required Environment Variables

For production, you must configure:

string

required

Set to production for production deployments

string

required

PostgreSQL connection string

string

required

Redis connection URL for caching and rate limiting

string

required

Secret key for authentication. Generate with:

openssl rand -base64 32

Production Security Checklist

Before deploying to production, ensure you:

✅ Use strong, randomly generated secrets
✅ Enable HTTPS/SSL encryption
✅ Configure proper CORS origins
✅ Set up database connection pooling
✅ Enable Redis for rate limiting
✅ Configure OAuth redirect URLs correctly
✅ Never expose API keys in client-side code
✅ Set up monitoring and error tracking
✅ Configure database backups
✅ Use environment-specific configurations

Database Migrations

Run database migrations after deployment:

# Push schema changes to database
pnpm drizzle-kit push

# Or generate and apply migrations
pnpm drizzle-kit generate
pnpm drizzle-kit migrate

Migration Best Practices

Test migrations locally first - Always test migrations in a development environment
Backup before migrating - Create a database backup before running migrations
Use transactions - Drizzle ORM automatically wraps migrations in transactions
Monitor migration progress - Watch logs during migration execution
Rollback plan - Have a rollback strategy ready if migrations fail

Health Checks and Monitoring

Health Check Endpoint

Implement a health check endpoint for monitoring:

// app/api/health/route.ts
export async function GET() {
  return Response.json({ status: 'ok' });
}

Monitoring Recommendations

Application Performance - Use Vercel Analytics or similar
Error Tracking - Configure error logging (e.g., Sentry)
Database Monitoring - Monitor query performance and connection pool
Redis Monitoring - Track cache hit rates and memory usage
API Rate Limiting - Monitor rate limit hits via Upstash

Performance Optimization

Next.js configuration in next.config.ts includes:

{
  compiler: {
    removeConsole: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? { exclude: ['error'] } : false,
  },
  experimental: {
    optimizePackageImports: [
      '@phosphor-icons/react',
      'lucide-react',
      '@hugeicons/react',
      'date-fns',
    ],
    staleTimes: {
      dynamic: 10,
      static: 30,
    },
  },
}

Scaling Considerations

Database Scaling

Use connection pooling (PgBouncer)
Configure read replicas for read-heavy workloads
Optimize indexes for frequently queried fields
Monitor slow queries and optimize them

Redis Scaling

Use Redis Cluster for high availability
Configure appropriate eviction policies
Monitor memory usage and scale vertically if needed

Application Scaling

Enable horizontal scaling with multiple instances
Use load balancing for traffic distribution
Configure CDN for static assets
Optimize image delivery with Next.js Image component

Troubleshooting

Common Deployment Issues

Build fails with module not found error

Ensure all dependencies are properly installed:

rm -rf node_modules
pnpm install

Database connection fails

Verify DATABASE_URL is correct
Check database server is accessible
Ensure database user has proper permissions
Verify SSL/TLS configuration if required

Authentication doesn't work

Check BETTER_AUTH_SECRET is set
Verify OAuth redirect URLs match deployment URL
Ensure OAuth credentials are correct
Check trustedOrigins in auth configuration

Images not loading

Check image remote patterns in next.config.ts
Verify external image sources are allowed
Ensure CDN/blob storage is accessible

Get Started

Features

Guides

Integrations

Vercel Deployment (Recommended)

Vercel Configuration

Docker Deployment

Production Docker Setup

Docker Compose Production

Container Health Checks

Environment Setup

Required Environment Variables

Production Security Checklist

Database Migrations

Migration Best Practices

Health Checks and Monitoring

Health Check Endpoint

Monitoring Recommendations

Performance Optimization

Scaling Considerations

Database Scaling

Redis Scaling

Application Scaling

Troubleshooting

Common Deployment Issues

Next Steps

​Vercel Deployment (Recommended)

​Vercel Configuration

​Docker Deployment

​Production Docker Setup

​Docker Compose Production

​Container Health Checks

​Environment Setup

​Required Environment Variables

​Production Security Checklist

​Database Migrations

​Migration Best Practices

​Health Checks and Monitoring

​Health Check Endpoint

​Monitoring Recommendations

​Performance Optimization

​Scaling Considerations

​Database Scaling

​Redis Scaling

​Application Scaling

​Troubleshooting

​Common Deployment Issues

​Next Steps

Vercel Deployment (Recommended)

Vercel Configuration

Docker Deployment

Production Docker Setup

Docker Compose Production

Container Health Checks

Environment Setup

Required Environment Variables

Production Security Checklist

Database Migrations

Migration Best Practices

Health Checks and Monitoring

Health Check Endpoint

Monitoring Recommendations

Performance Optimization

Scaling Considerations

Database Scaling

Redis Scaling

Application Scaling

Troubleshooting

Common Deployment Issues

Next Steps