Deploy to Render

why pick Render

• GitHub-native deploys — connect once, every push to the tracked branch triggers a build. No CLI required.
• Managed Redis — Render's own Key Value (Redis-compatible) plugin; provisions in a click and auto-sets the connection URL on your web service.
• Free tier for hobby — the free web service spins down after 15 min idle (cold start ~30 s on first request after), free Redis has a 25 MB cap. Good enough for a personal alert forwarder.
• Simple pricing beyond that — $7/mo for an always-on web service, $10/mo for a small Redis. Easier mental math than Railway's usage-based bill if you just want a flat monthly number.

prerequisites

• A Render account — sign up with GitHub or email.
• A GitHub repo you own with the neuromast/ code. Fork Axol, or push just neuromast/ to a fresh repo.

1 · push neuromast/ to your own GitHub repo

Skip if you forked Axol. Otherwise seed a fresh repo:

cp -r neuromast /tmp/my-neuromast
cd /tmp/my-neuromast
git init -b main
git add .
git commit -m "seed neuromast"
gh repo create my-neuromast --private --source=. --push

2 · create the Render services

1. New Web Service from your repo

   Dashboard → New → Web Service → connect the GitHub repo → pick your neuromast repo.

   Settings: Runtime Node, Build Command npm install && npm run build:node, Start Command npm start. If you forked the whole Axol repo, set Root Directory to neuromast.

2. Add a Key Value (Redis) instance

   Dashboard → New → Key Value. Pick a region matching your web service's. Render assigns an internal hostname like red-abc123.

3. Wire Redis into the web service

   Web service → Environment → Add Environment Variable → Add from Database → pick the Key Value instance → select Internal Redis URL. Render names it REDIS_URL by default, which is exactly what neuromast's storage factory auto-detects.

4. Set the remaining env vars

   Still in Environment, mark each as a secret:

   • ADAPTER=node — tells Astro to build for Node, not Cloudflare.
   • POLL_TOKEN — bearer for /pull + /ack. openssl rand -hex 32.
   • SHARED_SECRET (optional) — ?key= fallback.
   • HOOK_SCHEME_<SOURCE> + HOOK_SECRET_<SOURCE> per signed source.

5. Manual Deploy once to trigger the build

   Web service → Manual Deploy → Deploy latest commit. First build takes ~2–3 min (installs deps, runs build:node, starts the Node server).

6. Probe the endpoints

   export AXOL_CLOUD_URL=https://<your-service>.onrender.com
   export POLL_TOKEN='the-bearer-you-set'
   export SHARED_SECRET='the-shared-key-you-set'
   
   curl -X POST "$AXOL_CLOUD_URL/app/api/hooks/smoke?key=$SHARED_SECRET" \
     -H 'content-type: application/json' \
     -d '{"title":"hello","body":"from render"}'

   If you're on the free tier and the service has been idle, the first request may hang for 20–30 s while Render wakes the dyno. Subsequent requests are instant until the next idle window.

3 · connect the local forwarder

AXOL_CLOUD_URL="$AXOL_CLOUD_URL" \
AXOL_POLL_TOKEN="$POLL_TOKEN" \
./lateral-line/install.sh

day-2 operations

Redeploying

git push. Render watches the branch and deploys automatically.

Rotating secrets

Dashboard → service → Environment → edit → Save. Render restarts the service on save.

Keeping free-tier warm

Render's free web services spin down after 15 min idle. The local forwarder's 15 s polling keeps the service warm during your work day — free-tier idle windows only happen overnight. If you want zero cold starts, upgrade the web service to the $7/mo plan.

troubleshooting

• Build fails with "Cannot find module"

  If you forked the whole Axol repo, set Root Directory to neuromast. Without it, Render tries to build from the repo root (no package.json) and fails.

• Build succeeds but service crashes on start with "Cannot find module '@astrojs/node'"

  The build ran Cloudflare's adapter by default. Confirm ADAPTER=node is set in Environment, then trigger a new deploy.

• Service logs show "ECONNREFUSED" to Redis

  Double-check REDIS_URL is linked to your Key Value instance, and pick the Internal URL (not External) — the external URL has auth requirements the internal one skips.

• 401 on every request

  POLL_TOKEN or SHARED_SECRET mismatch. Confirm exact values in Environment match the forwarder plist (~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.axol.lateral-line.plist).

• First request after idle takes 30 s

  Free-tier cold start. Expected. Upgrade the plan or accept the lag.