Deployment

LinkShort ships with three deployment options: Docker, Docker Compose, and Fly.io.

Docker

A multi-stage Dockerfile builds the React frontend and packages the FastAPI app into a single image.

docker build -t linkshort .

# SQLite file lives in /app/data (volume mount recommended)
docker run -p 8000:8000 \
  -e SECRET_KEY=change-me \
  -v ./data:/app/data \
  linkshort

Docker Compose

The provided docker-compose.yml wires the image, port, env vars, and a data volume:

docker compose up -d

Key	Value
Image	built from the repo
Port	`8000:8000`
`DATABASE_URL`	`sqlite:///./urlshortener.db`
Volume	`./data:/app/data`

Fly.io

fly.toml is included for one-command deployment:

fly launch   # first time only
fly deploy

Deployment architecture

Browser
   │  HTTPS
   ▼
Fly.io / Docker host
   │  uvicorn: app.main:app
   ├── /auth/*        → JWT auth
   ├── /urls/*        → shorten, my, stats, delete, redirect
   ├── /health        → liveness
   └── /* (SPA)       → static files / index.html fallback
   │
   ▼
SQLite (volume-mounted /app/data)

Production checklist

Set a long, random SECRET_KEY (never commit it)
Mount persistent storage for the SQLite database
Run behind TLS (Fly.io provides it automatically)
Confirm backend/static contains a fresh frontend build
Restrict CORS origins instead of the dev * wildcard if needed
Back up the SQLite file regularly (single-file backups are trivial)
Monitor /health with your uptime checker