From Local to Live
Running an API on localhost is great for development.
But a real backend needs to be accessible to the world.
Today I deployed my FastAPI app to Render.
Why Render?
- Free tier available
- Connects directly to GitHub
- Auto-deploys on every push to main
- Environment variables built in
- Zero server configuration
The Setup
3 files needed for deployment:
1. requirements.txt
fastapi==0.129.0
uvicorn==0.41.0
sqlalchemy==2.0.41
pydantic==2.11.5
bcrypt==4.3.0
pyjwt==2.10.1
python-dotenv==1.1.0
2. .python-version
3.11.0
This pins the Python version- critical because
newer versions can break dependencies.
3. Start Command
uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT
$PORT is automatically provided by Render.
Environment Variables on Render
Never hardcode secrets in your code.
Set them in Render's dashboard under Environment:
- SECRET_KEY
- ALGORITHM
- DATABASE_URL
The Live API
Live URL: https://gdgoc-bowen-api.onrender.com
Lessons Learned
Deployment is not the scary part, it's just
connecting your GitHub repo to a platform and
setting your environment variables correctly.
The hard work is writing production-ready code.
Day 20 done. 10 more to go.
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