openreader/docs-site/docs/deploy/vercel-deployment.md

title
Vercel Deployment

This guide covers deploying OpenReader to Vercel with external Postgres and S3-compatible object storage.

What works on Vercel

• Documents (PDF/EPUB/TXT/MD) work with POSTGRES_URL + external S3 storage.
• Audiobook routes work on Node.js serverless functions using ffmpeg-static.
• Heavy compute features (Whisper alignment + PDF layout parsing) work through COMPUTE_MODE=worker with an external compute worker service.
• For worker setup details and worker-specific env vars, see Compute Worker (Redis + BullMQ).

:::warning DOCX Conversion Limitation docx conversion requires soffice (LibreOffice), which is not available in a standard Vercel runtime. :::

1. Environment Variables

Recommended production setup (auth enabled, admin panel enabled):

# Infrastructure
POSTGRES_URL=postgres://...
USE_EMBEDDED_WEED_MINI=false
S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID=...
S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=...
S3_BUCKET=...
S3_REGION=us-east-1
S3_PREFIX=openreader
# Optional (non-AWS S3-compatible providers):
# S3_ENDPOINT=https://...
# S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE=true

# Auth (required for the admin panel)
BASE_URL=https://your-app.vercel.app
AUTH_SECRET=...
ADMIN_EMAILS=you@example.com  # comma-separated; admins manage TTS + features in-app

# Heavy compute (recommended on Vercel in v1)
# local  = requires native binaries/models in-process (not recommended on Vercel)
# worker = external durable compute worker (recommended)
# none   = disable ONNX whisper alignment + PDF layout parsing
COMPUTE_MODE=worker
COMPUTE_WORKER_URL=https://your-compute-worker.example.com
COMPUTE_WORKER_TOKEN=...

# First-boot seed for the TTS shared provider (optional; manage in-app afterwards)
# API_KEY=your_replicate_key
# API_BASE only needed for OpenAI-compatible self-hosted providers

:::note Env vars vs. admin panel (important for Vercel) API_KEY / API_BASE are one-shot bootstrap seeds on first deploy. After boot, manage providers and site features in Settings → Admin. Changes there apply on refresh without a redeploy. See Admin Panel. :::

2. First-run admin configuration (recommended)

After the first successful deploy and admin login, open Settings → Admin and configure:

• Shared providers: create/edit your provider key(s) here (encrypted at rest).
• Site features:
  • enableDocxConversion=false on Vercel (soffice unavailable).
  • enableDestructiveDeleteActions=false for safer public deployments.
  • enableTtsProvidersTab=false if you want shared-provider-only UX.
  • enableUserSignups=true unless you explicitly want an invite-only deployment.
  • restrictUserApiKeys=true to block user BYOK through the hosted server.
  • defaultTtsProvider=replicate (or your preferred shared slug).
  • showAllProviderModels=false if you want users locked to each provider's default model.
  • enableAudiobookExport=true.

3. Legacy first-boot seed (optional)

If you must pre-seed site features via environment variables, the legacy RUNTIME_SEED_* seeds are still supported on first boot only. Prefer the admin panel for ongoing management.

See Environment Variables for the complete legacy seed list.

:::warning Auth recommendation For internet-exposed Vercel deployments, set both BASE_URL and AUTH_SECRET — they are also required for the admin panel and for encrypting admin-stored TTS credentials. Running without auth is possible, but not recommended for public environments. :::

:::warning Rotating AUTH_SECRET invalidates admin-stored keys Admin-managed TTS provider keys are encrypted with a key derived from AUTH_SECRET. If you rotate AUTH_SECRET after the first deploy, you must re-enter each admin shared provider's API key from the UI. :::

:::tip For all variables and defaults, see Environment Variables. :::

4. Database and data migrations

Vercel deployments do not run scripts/openreader-entrypoint.mjs, so automatic startup migrations do not run there.

• Run pnpm migrate in a controlled environment to apply Drizzle schema migrations to your Postgres DB.
• Run pnpm migrate-fs only when migrating legacy local filesystem data (docstore/documents_v1, docstore/audiobooks_v1) into object storage + DB rows. Fresh Vercel deployments usually do not need this.

5. FFmpeg packaging in Vercel functions

ffmpeg-static binaries must be included in function traces. This repo already does that in next.config.ts via outputFileTracingIncludes for:

• /api/audiobook
• /api/audiobook/chapter
• /api/tts/segments/ensure

:::info serverExternalPackages should include ffmpeg-static so package paths resolve at runtime instead of being bundled into route output. :::

If you change route paths or split handlers, update outputFileTracingIncludes accordingly.

6. Function memory sizing

FFmpeg workloads benefit from more memory/CPU. This repo includes:

{
  "$schema": "https://openapi.vercel.sh/vercel.json",
  "functions": {
    "app/api/audiobook/route.ts": { "memory": 3009 },
    "app/api/tts/segments/ensure/route.ts": { "memory": 3009 }
  }
}

Adjust memory per route if your files are larger or your plan differs.

7. Runtime expectations and caveats

• Audiobook APIs require S3 configuration; otherwise they return 503.
• For production Vercel deploys, use POSTGRES_URL instead of SQLite.

8. Smoke test after deploy

1. Upload and read a PDF/EPUB document.
2. Confirm sync/blob fetch works across refreshes/devices.
3. Generate at least one audiobook chapter and play/download it.
4. Verify worker-backed word highlighting and PDF parsing in COMPUTE_MODE=worker.