Deployment

WCAGify stores share links in a SQLite database. By default, this is a local file on disk (.data/shares.sqlite). For serverless platforms without persistent storage, you can connect a remote database instead.

Storage Options

Local SQLite (default)

Works out of the box on any platform with persistent disk storage. No configuration needed — the database is created automatically at .data/shares.sqlite.

Recommended for: Docker, Railway, Fly.io, Render, VPS, self-hosted

Remote database (LibSQL)

For serverless platforms like Vercel and Netlify, set DATABASE_URL to connect to a remote LibSQL-compatible database. This includes Turso (managed) or a self-hosted libsql-server.

Set the environment variables for your LibSQL database:

DATABASE_URL=libsql://your-db.turso.io
DATABASE_AUTH_TOKEN=your-auth-token

WCAGify includes @libsql/client out of the box and automatically detects DATABASE_URL to switch to the remote database. No code changes needed.

Recommended Platforms

Platform	Type	Persistent Disk	Free Tier
Railway	Container	Yes (volumes)	$5/month credit
Fly.io	Container	Yes (volumes)	Limited free tier
Render	Container	Yes (disks)	Free tier available
Coolify	Self-hosted	Yes	Free
VPS (Hetzner, DigitalOcean)	Server	Yes	From ~$4/month
Vercel	Serverless	No — requires DATABASE_URL	Free tier available
Netlify	Serverless	No — requires DATABASE_URL	Free tier available

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
WCAGIFY_ADMIN_SECRET	Yes (production)	Password to access reports
DATABASE_URL	No	LibSQL database URL for serverless platforms
DATABASE_AUTH_TOKEN	No	Auth token for the remote database
PORT	No	Server port (defaults to 3000)

Create a .env file from the included example:

cp .env.example .env

Build

pnpm build

This generates a .output/ directory with a standalone Node.js server.

Docker

The scaffolded project includes a Dockerfile. Build and run:

docker build -t my-audit .
docker run -p 3000:3000 -e WCAGIFY_ADMIN_SECRET=your-secret -v audit-data:/app/.data my-audit

The -v flag mounts a volume at /app/.data so share link data persists across container restarts.

Railway

Railway is the easiest option — it auto-detects the Dockerfile and supports persistent volumes.

1. Create a new project from your GitHub repo
2. Railway auto-detects the Dockerfile
3. Add the WCAGIFY_ADMIN_SECRET environment variable
4. Add a volume mounted at /app/.data (Settings > Volumes)
5. Generate a domain (Settings > Networking)

Vercel / Netlify

Serverless platforms work when connected to a remote database:

1. Create a LibSQL database (e.g. on Turso)
2. Set DATABASE_URL and DATABASE_AUTH_TOKEN in your environment variables
3. Set WCAGIFY_ADMIN_SECRET
4. Deploy as usual

VPS / Bare Metal

Run the built server directly with Node.js:

pnpm build
WCAGIFY_ADMIN_SECRET=your-secret node .output/server/index.mjs

Use a process manager like PM2 to keep it running:

pm2 start .output/server/index.mjs --name my-audit

Data Storage

Deployment method	Data location
Docker / Railway	/app/.data/shares.sqlite — mount a volume at /app/.data
VPS / Bare Metal	.data/shares.sqlite — in the working directory
Vercel / Netlify	Remote database via DATABASE_URL