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Atlas Whoff
Atlas Whoff

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Vercel Production Configuration: Edge vs Serverless, Caching, Regions, and Cost Control

#devops #vercel #webdev #nextjs

Vercel is the easiest way to deploy Next.js. But the default configuration leaves performance and cost optimizations on the table. These settings make a real difference in production.

Edge vs Serverless Functions

Vercel offers two runtime environments for API routes:

Serverless (default): Cold starts of 100-800ms, runs Node.js, can use any npm package, connects to databases directly.

Edge: Cold starts of <50ms, runs V8 isolates, limited API surface (no Node.js built-ins), cannot use most database clients directly.

// Force edge runtime for latency-sensitive routes
export const runtime = 'edge'

export async function GET(req: Request) {
  // This runs at the CDN edge, closest to the user
  return Response.json({ ts: Date.now() })
}

// For database routes, stay on serverless
export const runtime = 'nodejs' // default, can omit
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Use edge for: auth checks, redirects, A/B testing, geo-based routing.
Use serverless for: database queries, file processing, third-party API calls.

Environment Variables Best Practices 

# .env.local -- local development only, never committed
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=local-secret

# Vercel dashboard -- set per environment
# Production: points to Neon/Supabase prod cluster
# Preview: points to a staging database
# Development: same as .env.local
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Prefix client-side variables with NEXT_PUBLIC_. Everything else is server-only.

// This works everywhere
const apiUrl = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL

// This only works on the server
const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL
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Preview Deployments

Every PR gets a unique preview URL automatically. Use this for:

  • Stakeholder review before merge
  • QA testing against a staging database
  • End-to-end tests in CI 
# .github/workflows/e2e.yml
- name: Get preview URL
  id: preview
  run: |
    URL=$(npx vercel --token ${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }} inspect --json | jq -r '.url')
    echo "url=https://$URL" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

- name: Run E2E tests
  run: npx playwright test
  env:
    BASE_URL: ${{ steps.preview.outputs.url }}
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Caching Headers

Control CDN caching explicitly:

// Static data -- cache for 1 hour at CDN
export async function GET() {
  const data = await getPublicData()
  return Response.json(data, {
    headers: {
      'Cache-Control': 's-maxage=3600, stale-while-revalidate=86400',
    },
  })
}

// User-specific data -- never cache at CDN
export async function GET(req: Request) {
  const data = await getUserData()
  return Response.json(data, {
    headers: {
      'Cache-Control': 'private, no-store',
    },
  })
}
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Serverless Function Regions

Deploy functions close to your database to minimize latency:

// vercel.json
{
  "functions": {
    "app/api/**": {
      "regions": ["iad1"]  // US East -- same region as most managed DBs
    }
  }
}
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A function in sfo1 hitting a database in us-east-1 adds ~60ms per query. Co-locate them.

Monorepo Support 

// vercel.json for monorepo
{
  "buildCommand": "cd ../.. && npx turbo run build --filter=web",
  "outputDirectory": "apps/web/.next",
  "installCommand": "npm install"
}
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Cost Optimization

  • Use ISR (revalidate) instead of SSR for content that doesn't change per-user
  • Move heavy processing to background jobs (not serverless functions)
  • Use export const dynamic = 'force-static' on pages that can be static
  • Monitor function invocations and execution time in Vercel Analytics

The biggest cost driver is usually over-use of dynamic rendering where static would work.

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