Common Issues
deployment
Environment Variables Not Working in Production
Your app works perfectly on your local machine or in the AI tool's preview, but in production it fails. The cause is almost always missing or misconfigured environment variables — API keys, database URLs, and secrets that the app needs to function.
Common Causes
- Environment variables not set in the hosting platform (Vercel, Netlify, Railway, Render)
- Variable names are different between .env file and hosting platform
- The .env file was committed to git with wrong values for production
- Environment variables not available at build time (some frameworks require this)
- The app reads from process.env but the hosting platform uses a different mechanism
How to Fix It
- List all variables in your .env file and verify each one is set in your hosting platform
- Check that variable names match exactly (they're case-sensitive)
- Some frameworks require env vars prefixed with NEXT_PUBLIC_ or VITE_ to be available in the browser
- After adding env vars, redeploy — most platforms require a redeploy for changes to take effect
- Check deployment logs for messages about missing configuration
Real developers can help you.
Jen Jacobsen
I’m a Full-Stack Developer with over 10 years of experience building modern web and mobile applications. I enjoy working across the full product lifecycle — turning ideas into real, well-built products that are intuitive for users and scalable for businesses.
I particularly enjoy building mobile apps, modern web platforms, and solving complex technical problems in a way that keeps systems clean, reliable, and easy to maintain.
Mehdi Ben Haddou
- Founder of Chessigma (1M+ users) & many small projects
- ex Founding Engineer @Uplane (YC F25)
- ex Software Engineer @Amazon and @Booking.com
Jacek Rozanski
Senior PHP/Symfony developer and DevOps engineer with 20+ years of professional experience, running opcode.pl (web development agency, est. 2004).
Day job: I'm the sole backend developer at merketing company where I own and maintain 11 PHP/Symfony microservices on AWS (ECS Fargate, RDS, S3, CloudFront), handle the full CI/CD pipeline (Bitbucket Pipelines, Docker), and manage monitoring with Sentry and CloudWatch. These services handle high request volumes in production every month.
What I bring to AI-built apps:
- I audit and fix security issues (OWASP methodology), performance bottlenecks, and architectural problems in codebases generated by Cursor, Claude Code, Lovable, Bolt, and v0
- I refactor AI-generated prototypes into production-grade applications with proper error handling, testing, and clean architecture (SOLID, DDD, hexagonal architecture)
- I set up the infrastructure AI tools don't touch: AWS hosting, CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, database optimization, monitoring, and alerting
- I integrate external services: payment providers, email systems, partner APIs, SSO/auth
Tech stack: PHP 8.x, Symfony, React, Next.js, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Docker, AWS (ECS, RDS, S3, SQS/SNS, CloudFront), Terraform, Supabase. I also use AI tools daily (Claude Code, Cursor) in my own workflow, so I understand both the strengths and the gaps in AI-generated code.
Based in Poland (CET timezone). Available for async work and calls during EU/US business hours.
prajwalfullstack
Hi Im a full stack developer, a vibe coded MVP to Market ready product, I'm here to help
Jared Hasson
Full time lead founding dev at a cyber security saas startup, with 10 yoe and a bachelor's in CS. Building & debugging software products is what I've spent my time on for forever
Stanislav Prigodich
15+ years building iOS and web apps at startups and enterprise companies. I want to use that experience to help builders ship real products - when something breaks, I'm here to fix it.
Prakash Prajapati
I’m a Senior Python Developer specializing in building secure, scalable, and highly available systems. I work primarily with Python, Django, FastAPI, Docker, PostgreSQL, and modern AI tooling such as PydanticAI, focusing on clean architecture, strong design principles, and reliable DevOps practices. I enjoy solving complex engineering problems and designing systems that are maintainable, resilient, and built to scale.
Kingsley Omage
Fullstack software engineer passionate about AI Agents, blockchain, LLMs.
Matthew Jordan
I've been working at a large software company named Kainos for 2 years, and mainly specialise in Platform Engineering. I regularly enjoy working on software products outside of work, and I'm a huge fan of game development using Unity. I personally enjoy Python & C# in my spare time, but I also specialise in multiple different platform-related technologies from my day job.
Taufan
I’m a product-focused engineer and tech leader who builds scalable systems and turns ideas into production-ready platforms.
Over the past years, I’ve worked across startups and fast-moving teams, leading backend architecture, improving system reliability, and shipping products used by thousands of users. My strength is not just writing code — but connecting product vision, technical execution, and business impact.
Describe what's wrong in plain English. No technical knowledge needed.
Get HelpFrequently Asked Questions
The app works on my computer but not after deploy. Is it env vars?
Very likely. This is the #1 cause of 'works locally, breaks in production'. Check that all environment variables from your .env file are set in your hosting platform.
I set the env vars but it still doesn't work. What else could it be?
Make sure you redeployed after adding them. Also check that the variable names match exactly (case-sensitive) and that any framework-required prefixes are included.