Deploy to Vercel

Production deployment with Vercel's integrated platform

Vercel is the recommended deployment platform. It provides integrated storage, AI Gateway, and edge infrastructure with zero configuration.

Vercel Integrations

ChatJS uses several Vercel platform features. Enable them in your Vercel dashboard under Storage and AI.

AI Gateway

By default, ChatJS uses Vercel AI Gateway to access 120+ models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and more.

1. Go to Vercel AI Gateway
2. Create an API key
3. Add to environment: AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY

You can switch to OpenRouter or any other supported gateway in chat.config.ts. See Multi-Model Support for configuring available models.

Blob Storage

Vercel Blob is the recommended Files SDK provider for file attachments and generated media on Vercel. See File storage for the provider-agnostic architecture and migration behavior.

1. Go to Storage → Create → Blob
2. Connect to your project
3. Environment variable BLOB_READ_WRITE_TOKEN is auto-added

To disable blob features, set in chat.config.ts:

features: {
  attachments: false,
},
ai: {
  tools: {
    image: { enabled: false },
    video: { enabled: false },
  },
}

KV (Redis)

Enables resumable streams - users can refresh the page mid-generation and continue where they left off.

1. Go to Storage → Create → KV
2. Connect to your project
3. Environment variable REDIS_URL is auto-added

Without Redis, streams work normally but can’t be resumed after disconnection.

Cron Jobs

ChatJS includes a daily cleanup job that removes orphaned managed files uploaded but never saved to a message.

Configuration

Defined in vercel.json:

{
  "crons": [
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/cleanup",
      "schedule": "0 2 * * *"
    }
  ]
}

Runs daily at 2 AM UTC. Adjust the schedule using cron syntax.

Security

The cron endpoint requires a CRON_SECRET environment variable:

# Generate a secret
openssl rand -base64 32

Add to Vercel environment variables. Vercel automatically sends this as a Bearer token.

Customizing Cleanup

Edit app/api/cron/cleanup/route.ts to add cleanup tasks:

const results = {
  orphanedAttachments: await cleanupOrphanedAttachments(),
  // Add other cleanup tasks here
  expiredSessions: await cleanupExpiredSessions(),
};

Code Execution Sandbox

The code execution tool uses Vercel Sandbox for secure Python execution.

Authentication

On Vercel, sandbox uses OIDC automatically. For local development or self-hosted:

VERCEL_TEAM_ID=team_xxx
VERCEL_PROJECT_ID=prj_xxx
VERCEL_TOKEN=xxx

Runtime Configuration

Set the Python version via environment variable:

VERCEL_SANDBOX_RUNTIME=python3.13  # default

Resource Limits

Sandboxes run with:

• 2 vCPUs
• 5 minute timeout
• Pre-installed: matplotlib, pandas, numpy, sympy, yfinance

Environment Variables

Required

Optional (Vercel Features)

Pull from Vercel

After linking your project, pull all environment variables:

vercel link
vercel env pull .env.local

Rate Limiting and Security

The /api/chat endpoint is expensive (it calls AI providers on every request). Protect it from abuse in production.

Vercel Firewall

Enable Vercel Firewall in your project settings. Create a rate limiting rule for the chat endpoint:

1. Go to Settings → Firewall
2. Add a rule targeting POST /api/chat
3. Set a rate limit (for example, 20 requests per minute per IP)
4. Choose Challenge or Block as the action

Vercel WAF

For additional protection, enable the Web Application Firewall to block common attack patterns (SQL injection, XSS) at the edge before requests reach your application.

Environment Variable Security

• Never commit .env.local to version control
• Use Vercel’s environment variable management to set secrets per environment (production, preview, development)
• Rotate AUTH_SECRET and API keys periodically

Production Checklist

Before going live:

https://yourdomain.com/api/auth/callback/github
https://yourdomain.com/api/auth/callback/google

Troubleshooting