drftstatic · drftstatic · Jul 19, 2026 · Jul 19, 2026 · gemini-code-assist · Jul 19, 2026
diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
@@ -2,9 +2,11 @@
 # Copy this file to .env and configure for your environment
 
 # Database Configuration
-# Required: PostgreSQL database URL for Drizzle ORM
+# Optional: PostgreSQL (Neon) database URL for Drizzle ORM. Leave unset to run
+# with in-memory caches only (fully functional; caches just don't persist).
+# Must be a postgres:// URL - any other scheme is ignored.
 # Format: postgresql://username:password@hostname:port/database
-DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/staticbuffet
+# DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@host:5432/staticbuffet
 
 # Server Configuration
 # Optional: Port for the development/production server (default: 5000)

diff --git a/.replit b/.replit
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -75,13 +75,29 @@ A VJ-focused web application for instantly searching, previewing, and queuing fr
 ### 📋 Version 1.0 Status
 This is the first stable release of Static Buffet. All previous versions (0.1.0-alpha through 0.7.2) were pre-release development versions with inconsistent numbering. Version 1.0.0 represents a fully functional, production-ready VJ application.
 
-### Production Build
+### Production Build (self-hosted)
+
+Runs the full Express server, including the disk-backed video cache and transcoding:
 
 ```bash
 npm run build
 npm start
 ```
 
+## \ud83d\ude80 Deploying to Vercel
+
+The app deploys to Vercel as a static frontend plus a serverless function:
+
+- **Frontend**: `npm run build:vercel` (`vite build`) outputs to `dist/`, served by Vercel's CDN.
+- **API**: the Express app is mounted as a single serverless function at [`api/index.ts`](api/index.ts); `vercel.json` rewrites `/api/*` to it.
+
+Configure environment variables (e.g. `DATABASE_URL`) in the Vercel dashboard rather than `.env`. Import the repo into Vercel and it builds with no extra settings.
+
+**Serverless limitations** \u2014 because Vercel functions are stateless and short-lived:
+
+- **Search and video proxying work.** Video plays through `/api/video/...`, which streams directly from Archive.org without touching disk. Very long videos may hit the function's max duration; short-to-medium clips are fine.
+- **The disk video cache, transcoding, and HLS routes do not work** (no persistent filesystem). They are opt-in extras, not on the default playback path. For those features, self-host the server instead (`npm run build && npm start`).
+
 ## \ud83c\udfb5 Audio-Reactive Features
 
 Static Buffet includes Web Audio API integration for beat-detected mixing:

diff --git a/api/index.ts b/api/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import type { VercelRequest, VercelResponse } from "@vercel/node";
+import { createApp } from "../server/app";
+
+// Vercel serverless entry. The whole Express app is mounted as a single
+// function; vercel.json rewrites /api/* here. Build the app once and reuse it
+// across warm invocations.
+const appPromise = createApp();
+
+export default async function handler(req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) {
+  const app = await appPromise;
+  return (app as unknown as (req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) => void)(req, res);
+}
-export default async function handler(req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) {
-  const app = await appPromise;
-  return (app as unknown as (req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) => void)(req, res);
-}
+export default async function handler(req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) {
+  const { app } = await appPromise;
+  return (app as unknown as (req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) => void)(req, res);
+}
-export default async function handler(req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) {
-  const app = await appPromise;
-  return (app as unknown as (req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) => void)(req, res);
-}
+export default async function handler(req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) {
+  const { app } = await appPromise;
+  return (app as unknown as (req: VercelRequest, res: VercelResponse) => void)(req, res);
+}
diff --git a/api/videos.ts b/api/videos.ts
diff --git a/deployment-guide.md b/deployment-guide.md
diff --git a/docker-compose.cache.yml b/docker-compose.cache.yml