> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.folksbase.joselito.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Render Deployment

> How to deploy the folksbase API to Render using the render.yaml blueprint.

The Hono API (`apps/api`) deploys to Render as a Node.js web service. The project includes a `render.yaml` blueprint that defines the service configuration.

## Prerequisites

* A [Render](https://render.com) account
* The folksbase repository connected to Render
* All external services configured (Neon, Upstash, Supabase, etc.)

## Using the Blueprint (`render.yaml`)

The easiest way to deploy is using Render's blueprint feature. The `render.yaml` at the repository root defines everything Render needs:

```yaml theme={"dark"}
services:
  - type: web
    name: folksbase-api
    runtime: node
    region: oregon
    plan: starter
    buildCommand: pnpm install && pnpm --filter @folksbase/api build
    startCommand: node apps/api/dist/index.js
    healthCheckPath: /health
```

### 1. Connect the Repository

1. Go to [dashboard.render.com](https://dashboard.render.com)
2. Click **New → Blueprint**
3. Connect your GitHub repository
4. Render will detect `render.yaml` and create the service

### 2. Set Environment Variables

The blueprint declares all required env vars with `sync: false`, meaning you need to set their values manually in the Render dashboard.

Go to your service's **Environment** tab and add:

| Variable                   | Description                         |
| -------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| `DATABASE_URL`             | Neon Postgres connection string     |
| `REDIS_URL`                | Upstash Redis REST URL              |
| `REDIS_REST_TOKEN`         | Upstash Redis token                 |
| `SUPABASE_URL`             | Supabase project URL                |
| `SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY` | Supabase anon key                   |
| `SUPABASE_SECRET_KEY`      | Supabase service role key           |
| `SUPABASE_WEBHOOK_SECRET`  | Supabase webhook secret             |
| `BLOB_READ_WRITE_TOKEN`    | Vercel Blob token                   |
| `INNGEST_EVENT_KEY`        | Inngest event key                   |
| `INNGEST_SIGNING_KEY`      | Inngest signing key                 |
| `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`        | Anthropic API key                   |
| `RESEND_API_KEY`           | Resend API key                      |
| `ENCRYPTION_KEY`           | 64-char hex string for AES-256-GCM  |
| `APP_URL`                  | The Render service URL              |
| `FRONTEND_URL`             | The Vercel frontend URL(s) for CORS |

The blueprint pre-sets these with fixed values:

* `NODE_VERSION=24`
* `PNPM_VERSION=10.32.1`
* `RESEND_FROM_EMAIL=noreply@folksbase.dev`
* `PORT=3001`

### 3. Deploy

Push to `main` or trigger a manual deploy from the Render dashboard. The build command installs dependencies and compiles the API with `tsup`.

## Health Check

The API exposes a `/health` endpoint that Render uses to verify the service is running. It checks both the database (Neon) and cache (Redis) connections:

```json theme={"dark"}
// Healthy
{ "status": "ok", "checks": { "db": "ok", "redis": "ok" } }

// Degraded (503)
{ "status": "degraded", "checks": { "db": "ok", "redis": "error" } }
```

If the health check fails, Render will restart the service automatically.

## Build Process

The build command runs two steps:

1. `pnpm install` — installs all monorepo dependencies
2. `pnpm --filter @folksbase/api build` — compiles the API using `tsup`

The start command runs the compiled output directly: `node apps/api/dist/index.js`.

## Why the HTTP Driver?

The database package uses Neon's HTTP driver (`drizzle-orm/neon-http`) instead of the WebSocket driver. This is intentional — Render's infrastructure makes persistent WebSocket connections to Neon unreliable. The HTTP driver works over standard HTTPS requests, which is simpler and more compatible.

Do not switch to the WebSocket driver without testing on Render first.

## Rollback

1. Go to your service's **Events** tab in the Render dashboard
2. Find the last successful deploy
3. Click **Rollback** to redeploy that version