External Deployment

Build & Run Commands

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the app (compiles frontend + backend into dist/)
npm run build

# Start production server
npm start

• npm run build creates a dist/ folder with:
  • dist/index.cjs — bundled Express server
  • dist/public/ — compiled React frontend (static files)
• npm start runs NODE_ENV=production node dist/index.cjs
• The server serves both the API and the frontend on a single port

Platform-Specific Instructions

Railway

1. Push your code to a GitHub repository
2. Go to railway.app → New Project → Deploy from GitHub repo
3. Railway auto-detects Node.js — set the following:
   • Build Command: npm install && npm run build
   • Start Command: npm start
4. Go to Variables tab and add:
   • MONGODB_URI — your MongoDB Atlas connection string
   • ADMIN_PASSWORD — your chosen admin password
5. Railway automatically assigns PORT — no need to set it
6. Deploy — Railway gives you a .up.railway.app URL

Render

1. Push your code to GitHub
2. Go to render.com → New → Web Service → connect your repo
3. Configure:
   • Runtime: Node
   • Build Command: npm install && npm run build
   • Start Command: npm start
4. Go to Environment and add:
   • MONGODB_URI
   • ADMIN_PASSWORD
5. Render automatically sets PORT — no need to add it
6. Deploy — Render gives you a .onrender.com URL

Note: On the free tier, Render spins down after inactivity. First request after sleep may take 30-60 seconds.

VPS / Linux Server (Ubuntu/Debian)

1. Install Node.js

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

2. Clone and build

git clone <your-repo-url> /opt/durusi
cd /opt/durusi
npm install
npm run build

3. Set environment variables

Create a file /opt/durusi/.env:

MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://user:[email protected]/durusi
ADMIN_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
PORT=3000

Or export them in your shell / systemd service file.

4. Run with PM2 (recommended)

sudo npm install -g pm2

# Start the app
cd /opt/durusi
PORT=3000 MONGODB_URI="..." ADMIN_PASSWORD="..." pm2 start dist/index.cjs --name durusi

# Auto-restart on reboot
pm2 startup
pm2 save

5. Reverse proxy with Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

Then enable HTTPS with Certbot:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com

Vercel

Vercel is optimized for serverless. This app uses a long-running Express server, so Vercel is not the ideal choice. Use Railway or Render instead for best results.

If you still want to use Vercel, you would need to:

1. Separate the frontend (deploy as a static Vite site)
2. Convert the backend to serverless API functions in /api/ directory
3. This requires significant restructuring and is not recommended

DigitalOcean App Platform

1. Push your code to GitHub
2. Go to cloud.digitalocean.com → Apps → Create App → connect your repo
3. Configure:
   • Type: Web Service
   • Build Command: npm install && npm run build
   • Run Command: npm start
4. Add environment variables:
   • MONGODB_URI
   • ADMIN_PASSWORD
5. DigitalOcean sets PORT automatically
6. Deploy — you get a .ondigitalocean.app URL

MongoDB Atlas — Important Notes

IP Whitelist

Your MongoDB Atlas cluster must allow connections from your hosting platform's IP addresses:

• For Railway / Render / DigitalOcean: IPs change dynamically. Go to MongoDB Atlas → Network Access → Add 0.0.0.0/0 (allow from anywhere). This is safe as long as you use a strong database password.
• For VPS: Add your server's static IP to the whitelist for better security.

Database Name

The database name is durusi (included in the connection string). Make sure your MONGODB_URI ends with /durusi, for example:

mongodb+srv://user:[email protected]/durusi

Troubleshooting

Seeding Data

If deploying to a fresh database, run the seed script after the first deployment:

# From the project root (with MONGODB_URI exported)
npx tsx server/seed.ts

This inserts sample lessons with status: "approved" so the app has initial content.