Reverse Proxy (Nginx)

Purpose

How Nginx routes traffic to the application — the piece sitting between Cloudflare and the Next.js app.

Role

Cloudflare → Nginx → Next.js app (port 3000, internal)

Nginx handles:

• SSL termination (via Let's Encrypt certificates)
• Routing all traffic to the Next.js process
• Basic request buffering/timeouts before requests reach the application

Why Not Expose Next.js Directly

Standard practice, and specifically called out in the original infrastructure conversation: Nginx provides a stable, well-understood layer for SSL and routing, decoupled from the application process itself — the app can restart/redeploy without the public-facing HTTPS layer being affected.

Open Questions

• None blocking — standard, already-agreed configuration from the earlier conversation.

Update (2026-08-23): Vercel Move — Nginx Now Fronts FastAPI Only

Per Hosting Strategy's 2026-08-07 decision, the frontend (Next.js) deploys on Vercel. This VPS's Nginx no longer routes any frontend traffic — it fronts the FastAPI backend only:

Cloudflare → Nginx → FastAPI backend (internal)

Next.js/frontend traffic is served directly by Vercel and never passes through this VPS Nginx at all. The "Role" and "Nginx handles" sections above, and any references to routing to the Next.js process, are superseded by this.