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Part 12 of this project

Deploy

Prepare Stellar Press for production hosting.

Goal

This snapshot advances Stellar Press by teaching you to prepare Stellar Press for production hosting.

Every numbered folder is a complete app. Run this stage independently, then compare it with the previous folder.

Prerequisites

Use Node.js 20+, npm, and a terminal. No Docker is required for SQLite stages.

Port 4321 must be free. Copy .env.example before starting database stages.

  • Node.js and npm
  • A code editor and terminal

Concepts

Production needs HTTPS cookies, a strong SESSION_SECRET, and env-only database URLs.

Keep server endpoints thin: pages present data, API routes enforce rules, and Astro escapes output by default.

Walkthrough

Review deploy docs; never commit .env.

Read the example, then open the matching snapshot. The repository includes the surrounding setup and error handling.

SESSION_HTTPS_ONLY=true
DATABASE_PATH=/data/stellar.db

Run and verify

Enter 12-Deploy, install dependencies, copy .env.example, and start Astro on port 4321.

Open http://127.0.0.1:4321. Watch the terminal for validation and database errors.

git clone https://github.com/michaeldunga1/fcc-astro-blog.git
cd fcc-astro-blog/12-Deploy
npm install
cp .env.example .env
npm run dev -- --port 4321

Troubleshooting

If sessions vanish after deploy, check HTTPS cookie settings.

For database failures, confirm Docker/Wrangler and the *.db name when applicable. Never commit .env, *.db, or node_modules.

  • Read the first error first
  • Restart after environment changes
  • Never commit secrets

Try this

List every secret that must live only in the host environment.

Test a happy path and one invalid or unauthorized request.

  • Make one small change
  • Test it in the browser
  • Compare with the next snapshot only after it works

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