RouteLoom Launch Runbook

Recommended first production topology

Run one RouteLoom container behind HTTPS with a persistent volume mounted at DATA_DIR. Keep Firebase Authentication for browser identity. A single instance is required while SQLite is the primary database. Do not configure horizontal replicas against one SQLite file.

Firebase Hosting alone is not sufficient for RouteLoom's Node server, streaming, WebSockets, workers, and persistent data. Use a container host with a persistent volume (Fly.io, Railway volume, Render disk, or a VPS). Firebase can continue to provide Authentication. A later stateless edition can move persistence to a managed database and scale horizontally.

Required launch sequence

1. Copy .env.production.example into the host's secret manager and replace all placeholders.
2. Mount a durable volume at DATA_DIR and enable provider-level backups.
3. Point the public domain to the host and enable HTTPS.
4. Add the final domain to Firebase Authentication's authorized domains.
5. Run npm run launch:check with the production environment loaded.
6. Build the release image or standalone bundle.
7. Start one instance and verify /api/health, login, Firebase login, plan mode, WhatsApp upgrade, WebSocket connectivity, and one model request.
8. Configure uptime, error-rate, disk-space, and backup alerts.
9. Keep commerce mode free during the closed beta. Switch to plans only after every beta user has an entitlement or can reach the upgrade page.

Rollback

Keep the previous container image and the pre-migration database backup. Roll back the image first. Restore the database only if a migration changed data incompatibly; never overwrite the live database without retaining a copy.