Deploying Node.js and TypeScript Backend Applications to Vercel¶

Table of Contents¶

• Node.js Backend Deployment
• TypeScript Backend Deployment
• Troubleshooting

Node.js Backend Deployment¶

Prerequisites¶

1. Node.js installed on your local machine
2. A Vercel account
3. Git installed on your machine
4. Your Node.js application code

Project Setup¶

1. Ensure your project has a proper package.json file with all dependencies listed
2. Your main entry file should be index.js
3. Make sure your application listens on process.env.PORT for compatibility:

   const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
   app.listen(port, () => {
       console.log(`Server running on port ${port}`);
   });
   

Vercel Configuration¶

1. Create a vercel.json file in your project root:

   {
     "version": 2,
     "builds": [
       {
         "src": "index.js",
         "use": "@vercel/node"
       }
     ],
     "routes": [
       {
         "src": "/(.*)",
         "dest": "index.js",
         "methods": ["GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE", "PATCH", "OPTIONS"]
       }
     ]
   }
   

Deployment Steps¶

1. Initialize Git repository (if not already done):

   git init
   

2. Create .gitignore file:

   node_modules
   .env
   .env.local
   

3. Push your code to GitHub:

   git add .
   git commit -m "Initial commit"
   git branch -M main
   git remote add origin your-github-repo-url
   git push -u origin main
   

4. Deploy using Vercel UI:

5. Go to Vercel Dashboard
6. Click "Add New..." → "Project"
7. Select your GitHub repository from the list
8. Vercel will automatically detect your Node.js project
9. Configure your project settings:
   • Build Command: npm run build (if needed)
   • Output Directory: Leave empty for Node.js
   • Environment Variables: Add any required env variables

10. Click "Deploy"

11. After deployment, you'll get:

12. Production URL (your-project.vercel.app)
13. Dashboard URL for monitoring
14. Automatic deployments for future GitHub pushes

TypeScript Backend Deployment¶

TypeScript Prerequisites¶

1. All Node.js prerequisites
2. TypeScript installed: npm install -g typescript
3. ts-node for development: npm install --save-dev ts-node

TypeScript Project Setup¶

1. Initialize TypeScript configuration:

   tsc --init
   

2. Update tsconfig.json with recommended settings:

   {
     "compilerOptions": {
       "target": "es6",
       "module": "commonjs",
       "outDir": "./dist",
       "rootDir": "./src",
       "strict": true,
       "esModuleInterop": true,
       "skipLibCheck": true,
       "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true
     },
     "include": ["src/**/*"],
     "exclude": ["node_modules"]
   }
   

3. Structure your project:

   your-project/
   ├── src/
   │   └── index.ts
   ├── dist/
   ├── package.json
   ├── tsconfig.json
   └── vercel.json
   

TypeScript Vercel Configuration¶

1. Create vercel.json with TypeScript configuration:

   {
     "version": 2,
     "builds": [
       {
         "src": "src/index.ts",
         "use": "@vercel/node"
       }
     ],
     "routes": [
       {
         "src": "/(.*)",
         "dest": "src/index.ts",
         "methods": ["GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE", "PATCH", "OPTIONS"],
       }
     ]
   }
   

2. Update package.json scripts:

   {
     "scripts": {
       "dev": "ts-node src/index.ts",
       "build": "tsc",
       "start": "node dist/index.js"
     }
   }
   

TypeScript Deployment Steps¶

1. Build your TypeScript project locally to test:

   npm run build
   

2. Push your code to GitHub following the same steps as Node.js deployment

3. Deploy using Vercel UI:

4. Go to Vercel Dashboard
5. Click "Add New..." → "Project"
6. Select your GitHub repository
7. Vercel will automatically detect TypeScript
8. Configure project settings:
   • Build Command: npm run build
   • Output Directory: dist (or as specified in tsconfig.json)
   • Environment Variables: Add any required env variables

9. Click "Deploy"

10. Vercel will automatically:

11. Install dependencies
12. Build your TypeScript project
13. Deploy the compiled JavaScript
14. Set up automatic deployments for future pushes

Troubleshooting¶

Common Issues and Solutions¶

1. CORS Issues
2. Verify the headers in vercel.json are correct

3. Ensure your application code isn't overriding CORS settings

4. Build Failures

5. Check if all dependencies are listed in package.json
6. Verify TypeScript configuration in tsconfig.json

7. Look for syntax errors in source files

8. Runtime Errors

9. Check environment variables are properly set in Vercel dashboard
10. Verify file paths in imports are correct
11. Check for platform-specific code that might not work on Vercel