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community-rule/docs/guides/ops-backend-deploy.md
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Backend deploy — admin handoff + cutover plan

This doc captures everything needed to deploy the new CommunityRule (Next.js + Postgres) onto MEDLab's Cloudron and replace the legacy LAMP-packaged service at communityrule.info. Cloudron admin access has been granted; remaining open item is the registry decision in §6.

For a plain-language summary to hand to MEDLab's Cloudron admin, see ../relaunch-brief.md. This doc is the technical version.

1. Context

  • This app fully replaces the existing communityrule.info service — both the marketing site and the backend API.
  • The existing service is a single Cloudron LAMP app (lamp.cloudronapp.php74@5.1.2, installed at the communityrule.info apex, 512 MiB) that hosts three things stuffed into one container under /app/data/public/:
    1. The static marketing site (HTML / CSS / images).
    2. The Express/MySQL backend at CommunityRule/CommunityRuleBackend, kept alive by a 30-min lsof-based run.sh watchdog on port 3000. MySQL is the LAMP package's bundled MySQL, persisted inside /app/data (not a Cloudron addon).
    3. A Flask chatbot at CommunityRule/CommunityRuleChatBot on port 5000, also watchdog-supervised; currently crash-looping with ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'flask' and last touched in May 2024. Not migrated. Dies with the LAMP container at decommission.
  • The new app is a properly packaged Cloudron app (Docker image + CloudronManifest.json, postgresql + sendmail + localstorage addons). Cloudron's container supervisor replaces the watchdog.
  • Greenfield Postgres. No data migration from the LAMP container's internal MySQL. Old auth (4-digit OTP in email_otp) is replaced by hashed magic-link tokens. Old API and rules / version_history tables do not map to anything in the new app.

2. Access — granted

Cloudron admin login on cloud.medlab.host granted. From the dashboard the deployer can self-serve:

  • Cloudron admin login (full admin on the MEDLab instance).
  • DNS for communityrule.info — domain is managed inside Cloudron, so new subdomains and TLS certs are one-click.
  • App log access — Cloudron web log viewer.
  • Read of legacy app config — visible in admin UI.
  • cloudron CLI token — generate at Profile → API Tokens before first install. Save in 1Password.

3. Environment variables

Cloudron auto-injects (provisioned by addons declared in CloudronManifest.json)

Cloudron addons are not "enabled" platform-wide; they are requested per-app in the manifest and provisioned at install time.

  • CLOUDRON_POSTGRESQL_URL — from the postgresql addon. The app reads DATABASE_URL; bridging is a small in-app code change (see §8 CR-96).
  • CLOUDRON_MAIL_SMTP_SERVER / _PORT / _USERNAME / _PASSWORD — from the sendmail addon. The platform Mail server is configured for communityrule.info with Amazon SES relay + "allow custom from address" on, so SMTP_FROM of our choice will deliver. The app reads SMTP_URL; bridged the same way.

I set manually via cloudron configure --app <id> --set-env

  • SESSION_SECRET — long random (openssl rand -hex 32). Required, ≥ 16 chars. Rotating it logs everyone out.
  • SMTP_FROM — visible "From:" address on sign-in emails. Cloudron does not inject this. Use hello@communityrule.info (continuity with the legacy service; SES relay accepts it).
  • NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_BACKEND_SYNC=true — turns on Postgres draft persistence for signed-in users. Required in production.
  • UPLOAD_ROOT — absolute path to a writable directory (typically on the Cloudron localstorage mount) for POST /api/uploads (community photo + custom-method attachments). When unset, upload routes return server_misconfigured. See CONTRIBUTING.md API table.

4. Platform settings

  • Container httpPort: 3000 (matches Dockerfile ENV PORT=3000).
  • Health-check path: /api/health (app/api/health/route.ts returns 200 {"ok":true,"database":"connected"} when healthy, 503 otherwise).
  • Memory limit: start at 512 MiB (matches what the legacy LAMP app has been running fine on for two years); raise if Next.js standalone OOMs under load.
  • Backups: Cloudron's automatic backups are already on for the host (legacy app shows weekly snapshots ~451 MB each). Same default applies to new apps.
  • TLS / DNS / SPF / DKIM: handled by Cloudron for any subdomain of communityrule.info.

5. Cutover plan (side-by-side, never in-place)

The legacy app is at the apex communityrule.info and is still serving real traffic. Best practice is side-by-side cutover — new app gets validated at a fresh subdomain before any swap touches the apex.

Phases

  1. Staging install — cloudron install --image <our-image> --location staging.communityrule.info. Set env vars from §3. Run prisma migrate deploy. Smoke per CR-98.
  2. Soft launch / acceptance — share the staging URL with a small group, exercise sign-in + publish + draft sync end-to-end. Hold here until confident.
  3. Apex cutover at a scheduled low-traffic window — this is the only step with brief downtime (~5–15 min). Sequence:
    1. Take one final manual backup of the legacy LAMP app (Cloudron Backups tab → Backup now).
    2. cloudron uninstall the legacy app at communityrule.info.
    3. cloudron configure --location communityrule.info to move the validated staging install to the apex (or cloudron install fresh at apex if cleaner).
    4. Re-run prisma migrate deploy, re-set production env vars if not preserved by the move, smoke again.
  4. Decommission — see CR-101. Hold the final LAMP backup ≥ 90 days for safety.

Why not in-place?

Uninstalling the legacy app and installing the new one at apex without a staging step means the live site is down for the entire duration of the first install — and the first install is exactly when all the env-var / addon / port surprises happen. Side-by-side keeps those surprises out of view.

6. Decisions — status

Product decisions (closed):

  1. Final URL — communityrule.info apex. New app fully replaces the legacy site, including the marketing surface. Brief cutover downtime (~5–15 min) is accepted.
  2. Legacy rules data — not migrated. No data moves into the new app's Postgres. A pre-cutover read-only export of the rules + version_history MySQL tables is under consideration; approach depends on the actual row count, which we'll pull as part of the CR-99 pre-cutover backup. Tracked in CR-102.

Infra decision still open:

  1. Container registry — GHCR (under your personal / org account, lowest friction), Docker Hub, or MEDLab self-hosted. Tracked in CR-97.

7. Old vs new deltas

So nothing surprises anyone at cutover:

  • Legacy is a LAMP package with bundled MySQL inside the container. New app uses the Cloudron postgresql + sendmail + localstorage addons — entirely different storage, no shared state.
  • Legacy stuffs three apps (marketing + Node backend + Python chatbot) into one container with a run.sh watchdog. New app is one Next.js process, supervised by Cloudron natively.
  • Old auth = plaintext 4-digit OTP. New auth = hashed magic link in email. If users report "I'm not getting a code," remind them to look for a link instead.
  • Old code hardcoded from: 'hello@communityrule.info' in controllers/emailController.js because Cloudron does not inject a MAIL_FROM. New app reads SMTP_FROM — see §3.
  • Old API surface (/api/send_otp, /api/publish_rule, etc.) and schema (rules + version_history tables, soft-delete via deleted column) do not overlap with the new app. No data migration.
  • The Flask chatbot at CommunityRule/CommunityRuleChatBot is currently crash-looping inside the LAMP container and is not being migrated — confirmed with admin. It dies when the LAMP container is uninstalled in CR-101.

8. Follow-up tickets

All filed in Linear, titled [Backend] …, assigned to me, in the Community-rule team, Backlog state.

  1. CR-96 — [Backend] Bridge CLOUDRON_* env vars to canonical names. No blockers; can land now.
  2. CR-97 — [Backend] Container image registry: choose, build, push. Blocked by registry decision (§6.3).
  3. CR-98 — [Backend] Cloudron staging install + smoke at staging.communityrule.info. Blocked by CR-96 + CR-97.
  4. CR-99 — [Backend] Cloudron production install + apex cutover. Side-by-side cutover at scheduled low-traffic window per §5. Blocked by CR-98 green + CR-102 resolved.
  5. CR-100 — [Backend] Steady-state operator runbook. Blocked by CR-98 (write what we actually did).
  6. CR-101 — [Backend] Decommission legacy CommunityRule LAMP app. Uninstall the entire LAMP slot (marketing + Express backend + chatbot in one go); preserve final backup ≥ 90 days. Blocked by CR-99 + sign-off window. Priority: Low.
  7. CR-102 — [Backend] Decide fate of legacy rules table (read-only export?). Count rows + decide whether to publish a static archive before CR-99 uninstalls the legacy MySQL. Priority: Low.

10. Rate limiting (single-instance deploys)

The app uses an in-memory rate limiter in lib/server/rateLimit.ts (magic-link requests, organizer inquiry, etc.). This is sufficient for the current single Cloudron container per environment.

Before horizontal scale-out (multiple app instances behind a load balancer), replace or back the limiter with a shared store (e.g. Redis) so per-IP / per-user windows apply across instances. Until then, document expected limits in the steady-state runbook (CR-100).

11. Related docs

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