Configuration Checklist — BizFirst Deployment Models

Chapter 3 Guidelines

Before You Build

1. Decide: inline or independent?
Will the React app be served from the same origin as the API (inline), or its own domain/CDN (independent)? This single decision drives every setting below.
2. Set (or deliberately leave empty) VITE_API_BASE_URL
Inline: leave it empty. Independent: set it to the API's full absolute URL, e.g. https://api.example.com. Never set it to a bare /api — the endpoint constants already include that prefix; see Chapter 2.4.
3. Set VITE_TENANT_ID
Required — must be a positive integer. FlowStudio fails fast at startup if it's missing or invalid.
4. Set VITE_BASE_URL if the app is mounted under a sub-path
e.g. /flowstudio/ for an inline deployment reverse-proxied under that path. Defaults to /.
5. Set VITE_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID if Google Sign-In is used
Leave empty to disable it entirely for that environment.

6. Verify CORS on the API
Confirm the frontend's exact origin (scheme + host + port) is in the API's allowed-origins configuration. See Chapter 1.6.

6. Verify the same-origin proxy routes /api/*
Whatever serves the public origin (reverse proxy, or the API server itself serving static files) must actually forward /api/* requests to the API. This is a server-side routing concern, separate from anything in FlowStudio's own configuration.

7. Rebuild
Run vite build --mode <environment> (or the project's build script) so the values from the correct .env.* file are baked into the new bundle. Editing a .env file never affects an already-built dist/.
8. Deploy the new dist/ output
To the reverse proxy / static host / API server's static file path, depending on the model chosen in step 1.
9. Verify in the browser's Network tab
Load the deployed app, open devtools → Network, and confirm requests go to the expected origin and path with no doubled /api/api segments and no CORS errors. Full walkthrough in Chapter 3.2.