| # 🚀 Deployment Guide (Free & Lifetime) |
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| This guide will show you how to deploy your Web Scraper API to **Render.com** for free. Render is an excellent cloud platform that supports Python and Playwright out of the box. |
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| ## ✅ Prerequisites |
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| 1. **GitHub Account**: You need a GitHub account to host your code. |
| 2. **Git Installed**: You must have Git installed on your computer. |
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| --- |
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| ## Step 1: Push Code to GitHub |
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| First, we need to get your code onto GitHub. |
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| 1. **Log in to GitHub** and create a **New Repository**. |
| * Name it something like `Alt-scraper-api`. |
| * Make it **Public** or **Private** (Private is fine). |
| * **Do not** initialize with a README (we have code locally). |
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| 2. **Open your terminal** in the project folder (`d:\webscreper`) and run these commands one by one: |
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| ```bash |
| # Initialize git |
| git init |
| |
| # Add all files |
| git add . |
| |
| # Commit changes |
| git commit -m "Initial commit for deployment" |
| |
| # Link to your new GitHub repo (Replace YOUR_USERNAME and REPO_NAME) |
| git remote add origin https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/Alt-scraper-api.git |
| |
| # Push code |
| git push -u origin main |
| ``` |
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| --- |
| |
| ## Step 2: Create a Web Service on Render |
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| 1. Go to [dashboard.render.com](https://dashboard.render.com) and sign up/log in. |
| 2. Click the **"New +"** button and select **"Web Service"**. |
| 3. Connect your **GitHub** account. |
| 4. Find your `Alt-scraper-api` repository and click **"Connect"**. |
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| --- |
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| ## Step 3: Configure the Service |
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| Fill in the details exactly as follows to ensure it works with Flask and Playwright: |
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| * **Name**: `Alt-scraper` (or whatever you like) |
| * **Region**: Closest to you (e.g., Frankfurt or Oregon) |
| * **Branch**: `master` |
| * **Root Directory**: (Leave blank) |
| * **Runtime**: **Python 3** |
| * **Build Command**: |
| ```bash |
| ./build.sh |
| ``` |
| * **Start Command**: |
| ```bash |
| uvicorn api:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT --interface wsgi --workers 4 --timeout-keep-alive 600 |
| ``` |
| * **Instance Type**: Select **Free** |
| |
| ### ⚠️ crucial: Environment Variables |
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| Scroll down to "Advanced" or "Environment Variables" and make sure these settings are correct. We already set up the `build.sh` script to handle dependencies, so this part should be automatic. |
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| --- |
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| ## Step 4: Deploy |
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| 1. Click **"Create Web Service"**. |
| 2. Render will start building your app. You can watch the logs. |
| * It will install Python dependencies. |
| * It will install Chromium (for Playwright). |
| 3. Once finished, you will see a green checkmark **"Live"**. |
| 4. Copy your URL (e.g., `https://Alt-scraper.onrender.com`). |
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| --- |
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| ## Step 5: Test Your API |
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| Now you can use this URL in Postman instead of `127.0.0.1:5050`. |
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| **New Request:** |
| * **Method**: `GET` |
| * **URL**: `https://YOUR-APP-NAME.onrender.com/api/seo-report?domain=https://example.com` |
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| --- |
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| ## ℹ️ Important Notes about "Free" Tier |
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| 1. **Spin Down**: The free instance "sleeps" after 15 minutes of inactivity. The first request after sleeping might take 30-50 seconds to wake it up. This is normal. |
| 2. **Keep Alive (Optional)**: If you want it to stay awake, you can use a free "Uptime Monitor" (like UptimeRobot) to ping your API every 10 minutes. |
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| You now have a fully functional, free, lifetime deployment of your scraper! 🚀 |
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