docs: add raw deployment guide (Render + Vercel)

DEPLOYMENT.md

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+# 🚀 Deployment Guide — Render (Backend) + Vercel (Frontend)
+
+This guide walks you through deploying a self-hosted instance of **urBackend** from scratch using **free-tier** cloud services — no Docker required.
+
+| Layer | Platform | Cost |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| Node.js API | [Render](https://render.com) | Free tier |
+| MongoDB | [MongoDB Atlas](https://www.mongodb.com/atlas) | Free (M0 cluster) |
+| Redis | [Redis Cloud (redis.io)](https://redis.io/try-free/) | Free tier |
+| React/Vite dashboard | [Vercel](https://vercel.com) | Free tier |
+
+---
+
+## 📋 Table of Contents
+
+1. [Prerequisites](#1-prerequisites)
+2. [Set up MongoDB Atlas](#2-set-up-mongodb-atlas)
+3. [Set up Redis Cloud](#3-set-up-redis-cloud)
+4. [Deploy the Backend to Render](#4-deploy-the-backend-to-render)
+5. [Deploy the Frontend to Vercel](#5-deploy-the-frontend-to-vercel)
+6. [Link the Frontend to the Backend](#6-link-the-frontend-to-the-backend)
+7. [Verify your deployment](#7-verify-your-deployment)
+
+---
+
+## 1. Prerequisites
+
+Before you start, make sure you have:
+
+- A [GitHub](https://github.com) account with a fork of this repository.
+- A [MongoDB Atlas](https://www.mongodb.com/atlas) account (free).
+- A [Redis Cloud](https://redis.io/try-free/) account (free).
+- A [Render](https://render.com) account (free).
+- A [Vercel](https://vercel.com) account (free).
+
+> **Tip:** You only need to complete steps 2 and 3 once — the same Atlas cluster and Redis Cloud database can be reused across multiple deployments.
+
+---
+
+## 2. Set up MongoDB Atlas
+
+1. Go to [cloud.mongodb.com](https://cloud.mongodb.com) and sign in.
+2. Click **"Build a Database"** → choose the **Free (M0)** shared tier.
+3. Select a cloud provider and region closest to your Render deployment region.
+4. Enter a cluster name (e.g. `urbackend`) and click **"Create"**.
+5. Under **Security → Database Access**, create a database user:
+   - Username: `urbackend-user`
+   - Password: generate a strong password and **copy it**.
+   - Role: **"Read and write to any database"**.
+6. Under **Security → Network Access**, click **"Add IP Address"** and add the outbound IP addresses of your Render service.
+
+   > To find these IPs: open your Render service → **Info** tab → **Outbound IPs**. Render exposes a set of static outbound IPs per service; add each one individually in Atlas.
+
+7. Go to **Database → Connect** → **"Drivers"** and copy the **connection string**. It looks like:
+
+   ```
+   mongodb+srv://urbackend-user:<password>@urbackend.xxxxx.mongodb.net/?retryWrites=true&w=majority
+   ```
+
+   Replace `<password>` with the password you copied in step 5, and append the database name before the query string:
+
+   ```
+   mongodb+srv://urbackend-user:<password>@urbackend.xxxxx.mongodb.net/urbackend?retryWrites=true&w=majority
+   ```
+
+   **Save this URL** — you will need it in step 4.
+
+---
+
+## 3. Set up Redis Cloud
+
+1. Go to [redis.io/try-free](https://redis.io/try-free/) and sign up for a free account.
+2. After logging in, click **"New database"**.
+3. Choose the **Free** plan, then enter a database name (e.g. `urbackend-redis`) and select the cloud provider and region closest to your Render deployment.
+4. Click **"Create database"**.
+5. Once the database is created, open it and scroll to the **"Security"** section to note the **host**, **port**, **username** (`default`), and **password**.
+6. Construct the Redis URL in this format:
+
+   ```
+   rediss://default:<password>@<host>:<port>
+   ```
+
+   **Save this URL** — you will need it in step 4.
+
+---
+
+## 4. Deploy the Backend to Render
+
+### 4.1 Create a new Web Service
+
+1. Go to [dashboard.render.com](https://dashboard.render.com) and click **"New +"** → **"Web Service"**.
+2. Connect your GitHub account and select your fork of `urBackend`.
+3. Fill in the service settings:
+
+   | Setting | Value |
+   | :--- | :--- |
+   | **Name** | `urbackend-api` (or any name you prefer) |
+   | **Region** | Choose the region closest to your Atlas & Redis Cloud region |
+   | **Branch** | `main` |
+   | **Root Directory** | `backend` |
+   | **Runtime** | `Node` |
+   | **Build Command** | `npm install` |
+   | **Start Command** | `npm start` |
+   | **Instance Type** | Free |
+
+4. Click **"Advanced"** to expand the environment variable section.
+
+### 4.2 Configure environment variables
+
+Add **each** of the following environment variables one by one using the **"Add Environment Variable"** button:
+
+```env
+# Server
+PORT=1234
+NODE_ENV=production
+
+# Database & Cache
+MONGO_URL=<your MongoDB Atlas connection string from step 2>
+REDIS_URL=<your Redis Cloud URL from step 3>
+
+# Authentication — generate strong random strings (min 32 chars)
+JWT_SECRET=<at_least_32_random_characters>
+ENCRYPTION_KEY=<exactly_32_character_string>
+API_KEY_SALT=<random_string_for_api_key_hashing>
+
+# External Storage (Supabase) — required for file uploads
+SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
+SUPABASE_KEY=your-supabase-anon-key
+
+# Email (Resend) — required for OTP / email verification
+RESEND_API_KEY=re_your_resend_api_key
+EMAIL_FROM=onboarding@resend.dev
+
+# Frontend URL — update after deploying the frontend (step 5)
+FRONTEND_URL=https://your-frontend.vercel.app
+```
+
+> **Security note:** Never commit real secrets to your repository. Always use the Render environment variable panel or a secrets manager.
+
+> **Generating secrets:** You can run `node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"` locally to generate a strong random string for `JWT_SECRET`, `ENCRYPTION_KEY`, and `API_KEY_SALT`.
+
+### 4.3 Deploy
+
+1. Click **"Create Web Service"**.
+2. Render will pull your code, run `npm install`, and start the server. The first deploy usually takes 2–3 minutes.
+3. Once the status shows **"Live"**, copy the service URL — it looks like:
+
+   ```
+   https://urbackend-api.onrender.com
+   ```
+
+   **Save this URL** — you will need it when deploying the frontend.
+
+### 4.4 Verify the backend
+
+Open your browser (or use `curl`) and visit:
+
+```
+https://urbackend-api.onrender.com/health
+```
+
+You should see a `200 OK` response confirming the API is running.
+
+> **Free tier cold starts:** Render's free tier spins down services after 15 minutes of inactivity. The first request after a cold start may take 30–60 seconds.
+
+---
+
+## 5. Deploy the Frontend to Vercel
+
+### 5.1 Import the project
+
+1. Go to [vercel.com/new](https://vercel.com/new) and sign in with GitHub.
+2. Click **"Add New… → Project"** and import your fork of `urBackend`.
+3. In the project configuration screen:
+
+   | Setting | Value |
+   | :--- | :--- |
+   | **Root Directory** | `frontend` |
+   | **Framework Preset** | Vite (auto-detected) |
+   | **Build Command** | `npm run build` (default) |
+   | **Output Directory** | `dist` (default) |
+
+### 5.2 Configure the environment variable
+
+Under **"Environment Variables"**, add:
+
+```env
+VITE_API_URL=https://urbackend-api.onrender.com
+```
+
+Replace the value with the actual Render service URL you copied in step 4.3.
+
+> This variable tells the React app where your backend API lives. Without it, the frontend will default to `http://localhost:1234` and will not work in production.
+
+### 5.3 Deploy
+
+1. Click **"Deploy"**.
+2. Vercel will install dependencies and build the Vite project. This usually takes under a minute.
+3. Once the deployment is complete, Vercel will give you a URL like:
+
+   ```
+   https://ur-backend.vercel.app
+   ```
+
+---
+
+## 6. Link the Frontend to the Backend
+
+After the frontend is deployed, you must go back to Render and update the `FRONTEND_URL` environment variable:
+
+1. In the [Render dashboard](https://dashboard.render.com), open your `urbackend-api` service.
+2. Go to **"Environment"** and update:
+
+   ```env
+   FRONTEND_URL=https://ur-backend.vercel.app
+   ```
+
+3. Click **"Save Changes"**. Render will automatically redeploy the backend with the updated CORS origin.
+
+---
+
+## 7. Verify your deployment
+
+1. Open your Vercel frontend URL in the browser.
+2. Create a new account and log in — this exercises the Auth API against your live backend.
+3. Create a project and insert a document — this confirms the MongoDB Atlas connection is working.
+4. Check the Render logs (**Logs** tab on the service page) if anything is not working.
+
+### Common issues
+
+| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| Frontend shows network error | `VITE_API_URL` is wrong or missing | Re-deploy frontend with correct env var |
+| Backend returns 500 on any request | `MONGO_URL` is wrong | Check Atlas connection string & network access rules |
+| Login emails not arriving | `RESEND_API_KEY` is missing/invalid | Add a valid key from [resend.com](https://resend.com) |
+| File uploads fail | `SUPABASE_URL` / `SUPABASE_KEY` missing | Add valid Supabase credentials |
+| Frontend CORS errors | `FRONTEND_URL` not updated on backend | Update and redeploy the Render service |
+
+---
+
+## 🔁 Re-deploying after code changes
+
+- **Render** automatically redeploys when you push to the `main` branch of your GitHub fork (if auto-deploy is enabled in the Render dashboard).
+- **Vercel** automatically redeploys on every push and even creates preview deployments for pull requests.
+
+---
+
+## 📚 Further reading
+
+- [MongoDB Atlas documentation](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/atlas/)
+- [Redis Cloud documentation](https://redis.io/docs/latest/operate/rc/)
+- [Render Web Services documentation](https://docs.render.com/web-services)
+- [Vercel deployment documentation](https://vercel.com/docs/deployments/overview)
+- [urBackend Contributing Guide](CONTRIBUTING.md)

README.md

@@ -74,6 +74,14 @@ graph LR
 
 Explore our [Architecture Diagram](ARCHITECTURE_DIAGRAM.md) to understand the system design, core components, and data flow in detail.
 
+---
+
+## 🏠 Self-Hosting
+
+Want to run your own instance? Follow the step-by-step guide to deploy urBackend to **Render** (backend) and **Vercel** (frontend) using free-tier services — no Docker required.
+
+👉 **[DEPLOYMENT.md](DEPLOYMENT.md)**
+
 ---
 ## 🤝 Community