Shipping an AI-built app without production surprises
From localhost or v0 to production: domain, SSL, secrets, backups — and why “works on my machine” is not a launch plan.
What you’ll take away
- Production is infrastructure and security, not “upload the zip.”
- Secrets, database and backups come before the social announcement.
- There is a low entry point for deployment when the code already exists.
More teams arrive with a prototype from Cursor, v0, Bolt or Lovable that works locally. The jump to the public internet is where domain, HTTPS, environment variables and “who restarts the server at 2 a.m.” show up.
What prototypes usually miss
- Domain pointing with auto-renewing SSL.
- Secrets outside the codebase.
- A database with backups and restricted access.
- A way to ship changes without breaking what is already live.
- A human contact when something fails (not an anonymous ticket).
Expensive mistakes in month one
Committing .env to the repo, using a demo database with real data, or skipping backups. Also announcing the product before basic monitoring exists.
Watch out: “I will ship it on a free tier” is fine for a demo — not for customers or personal data.
A sober path
- Review the repo (build, dependencies, secrets).
- Set up hosting, domain and SSL.
- Connect the database and backups.
- Continuous deploy or at least a written release procedure.
- Test the public URL, forms and 500 errors.
How we handle it at Bitora
The production deployment solution covers that jump. Entry point: implementation from €15 and maintenance from €5 per month (see pricing). If scope is still unclear, the free diagnostic helps separate prototype from product.
Does this fit your company?
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