Hosting Guide
# Hosting Guide
This guide will walk you through the process of deploying your application that integrates with our platform. We'll cover various hosting options and best practices for production deployments.
## Deployment Options
### Vercel (Recommended)
Vercel is our recommended hosting platform for Next.js applications:
1. **Connect Your Repository**
```bash
# Install Vercel CLI
npm i -g vercel
# Deploy from your project directory
vercel
```
2. **Configure Environment Variables**
- Go to your Vercel dashboard
- Navigate to Settings > Environment Variables
- Add your API keys and configuration
3. **Automatic Deployments**
- Connect your GitHub repository
- Every push to main branch triggers a deployment
- Preview deployments for pull requests
### Netlify
For static sites and other frameworks:
1. **Build Command**
```bash
npm run build
```
2. **Publish Directory**
```
.next
```
3. **Environment Variables**
- Add in Netlify dashboard under Site settings > Environment variables
### AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
For enterprise deployments:
1. **Container Deployment**
```dockerfile
FROM node:18-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production
COPY . .
RUN npm run build
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["npm", "start"]
```
2. **Environment Configuration**
- Use your cloud provider's secrets management
- Configure environment variables securely
## Environment Variables
Set these environment variables in your hosting platform:
```bash
# Required
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_NAME=YourAppName
NEXT_PUBLIC_CONTACT_ENDPOINT=https://your-firebase-function.com/contact
# Optional
SITE_URL=https://yourdomain.com
NEXT_PUBLIC_ANALYTICS_ID=your-analytics-id
```
## Production Checklist
Before deploying to production, ensure you have:
- [ ] **Environment Variables**: All required variables are set
- [ ] **API Keys**: Valid API keys for production environment
- [ ] **SSL Certificate**: HTTPS enabled for security
- [ ] **Domain Configuration**: Custom domain properly configured
- [ ] **Monitoring**: Error tracking and performance monitoring
- [ ] **Backup Strategy**: Database and file backups configured
## Performance Optimization
### Build Optimization
```javascript
// next.config.js
module.exports = {
experimental: {
optimizeCss: true,
optimizePackageImports: ['@example/sdk']
},
images: {
domains: ['your-cdn.com'],
formats: ['image/webp', 'image/avif']
}
}
```
### Caching Strategy
```javascript
// Cache API responses
export async function getStaticProps() {
return {
props: {
data: await fetchData()
},
revalidate: 3600 // Revalidate every hour
}
}
```
## Security Best Practices
1. **API Key Management**
- Never commit API keys to version control
- Use environment variables for all secrets
- Rotate keys regularly
2. **HTTPS Only**
- Force HTTPS redirects
- Use secure cookies
- Implement CSP headers
3. **Rate Limiting**
- Implement rate limiting on your API calls
- Handle 429 responses gracefully
## Monitoring and Analytics
### Error Tracking
```javascript
// Add error tracking
import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nextjs";
Sentry.init({
dsn: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN,
environment: process.env.NODE_ENV
});
```
### Performance Monitoring
```javascript
// Track Core Web Vitals
export function reportWebVitals(metric) {
if (metric.label === 'web-vital') {
console.log(metric);
// Send to your analytics service
}
}
```
## Troubleshooting
### Common Issues
1. **Build Failures**
- Check Node.js version compatibility
- Verify all dependencies are installed
- Review build logs for specific errors
2. **Environment Variables**
- Ensure all required variables are set
- Check variable naming (NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefix for client-side)
- Verify no typos in variable names
3. **API Integration Issues**
- Test API endpoints locally first
- Verify API keys are valid
- Check CORS configuration
### Getting Help
If you encounter issues:
1. Check our [API Documentation](/api-docs)
2. Review [Error Codes](/docs/api/errors)
3. Contact support with detailed error logs
## Next Steps
After successful deployment:
- Set up monitoring and alerting
- Configure custom domain and SSL
- Implement CI/CD pipeline
- Plan for scaling as your application grows
Happy deploying! 🚀