Back to Handbook
Operations · Intermediate
Deployment & Migration
Going Live
Moving from a fragile 'Development URL' to a robust Production Environment. Why 'It works on my machine' is not a strategy.
01
The Environment Gap
Your local machine (localhost) is forgiving. Production is not. You must migrate your environment variables and database connections securely.
1. Audit
Check Env Vars
Ensure API keys are added to Vercel/Replit Secrets, not just local .env.
2. Build
CI/CD Pipeline
Connect GitHub. Every push to main should auto-deploy.
3. Verify
Smoke Test
Test critical flows (Login, Payment) on the live URL immediately.
02
Database Migration
If you used a local SQLite file, it will vanish on deploy. You must migrate to a cloud database (Supabase/Neon).
“Localhost is for vibes. The Cloud is for users.”