Vercel Reference Architecture

Overview

Implement a production-ready Vercel project architecture with clear separation across edge, server, and client layers. Covers directory structure, middleware patterns, API route organization, shared utilities, and configuration management.

Prerequisites

• Understanding of Vercel's deployment model (edge, serverless, static)
• TypeScript project setup
• Next.js 14+ (recommended) or other Vercel-supported framework

Instructions

Step 1: Directory Structure

my-vercel-app/
├── public/                    # Static assets (served from CDN)
│   ├── favicon.ico
│   └── images/
├── src/
│   ├── app/                   # Next.js App Router pages
│   │   ├── layout.tsx         # Root layout
│   │   ├── page.tsx           # Home page
│   │   ├── api/               # API routes (serverless functions)
│   │   │   ├── health/route.ts
│   │   │   ├── users/route.ts
│   │   │   └── webhooks/
│   │   │       └── vercel/route.ts
│   │   ├── dashboard/         # Protected pages
│   │   │   ├── layout.tsx
│   │   │   └── page.tsx
│   │   └── (marketing)/       # Public pages (route group)
│   │       ├── pricing/page.tsx
│   │       └── about/page.tsx
│   ├── lib/                   # Shared utilities (server + client)
│   │   ├── api-client.ts      # External API wrapper
│   │   ├── db.ts              # Database client (lazy singleton)
│   │   ├── env.ts             # Typed environment variables
│   │   └── errors.ts          # Error classes
│   ├── components/            # React components
│   │   ├── ui/                # Design system primitives
│   │   └── features/          # Feature-specific components
│   └── middleware.ts          # Edge Middleware (auth, redirects)
├── vercel.json                # Vercel configuration
├── next.config.js             # Next.js configuration
├── tsconfig.json
├── package.json
└── .env.example               # Required env vars (no values)

Step 2: Typed Environment Variables

// src/lib/env.ts — validate env vars at import time
import { z } from 'zod';

const envSchema = z.object({
  DATABASE_URL: z.string().url(),
  API_SECRET: z.string().min(16),
  NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL: z.string().url(),
  VERCEL_ENV: z.enum(['production', 'preview', 'development']).default('development'),
  VERCEL_URL: z.string().optional(),
});

// Fails fast at startup if env vars are missing
export const env = envSchema.parse(process.env);

// Type-safe access throughout the app
// Usage: import { env } from '@/lib/env'; env.DATABASE_URL

Step 3: Database Client (Lazy Singleton)

// src/lib/db.ts — lazy init to minimize cold starts
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';

const globalForPrisma = globalThis as unknown as { prisma: PrismaClient | undefined };

export const db = globalForPrisma.prisma ?? new PrismaClient({
  log: process.env.VERCEL_ENV === 'development' ? ['query'] : ['error'],
});

// Prevent multiple instances in development (hot reload)
if (process.env.VERCEL_ENV !== 'production') {
  globalForPrisma.prisma = db;
}

Step 4: API Route Pattern

// src/app/api/users/route.ts
import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
import { db } from '@/lib/db';
import { env } from '@/lib/env';

export async function GET(request: NextRequest) {
  try {
    const searchParams = request.nextUrl.searchParams;
    const limit = Number(searchParams.get('limit') ?? 20);

    const users = await db.user.findMany({ take: limit });
    return NextResponse.json({ users }, {
      headers: { 'Cache-Control': 's-maxage=60, stale-while-revalidate=300' },
    });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('GET /api/users failed:', error);
    return NextResponse.json(
      { error: 'Internal server error', requestId: crypto.randomUUID() },
      { status: 500 }
    );
  }
}

export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
  try {
    const body = await request.json();
    const user = await db.user.create({ data: body });
    return NextResponse.json({ user }, { status: 201 });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('POST /api/users failed:', error);
    return NextResponse.json(
      { error: 'Failed to create user' },
      { status: 400 }
    );
  }
}

Step 5: Edge Middleware for Auth

// src/middleware.ts
import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';

export function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
  const { pathname } = request.nextUrl;

  // Skip auth for public routes
  if (pathname.startsWith('/api/health') || pathname.startsWith('/api/webhooks')) {
    return NextResponse.next();
  }

  // Check auth for dashboard routes
  if (pathname.startsWith('/dashboard') || pathname.startsWith('/api/')) {
    const token = request.cookies.get('session')?.value;
    if (!token) {
      if (pathname.startsWith('/api/')) {
        return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Unauthorized' }, { status: 401 });
      }
      return NextResponse.redirect(new URL('/login', request.url));
    }
  }

  return NextResponse.next();
}

export const config = {
  matcher: ['/((?!_next/static|_next/image|favicon.ico).*)'],
};

Step 6: Health Check Endpoint

// src/app/api/health/route.ts
import { db } from '@/lib/db';

export const dynamic = 'force-dynamic'; // Never cache health checks

export async function GET() {
  const checks: Record<string, 'ok' | 'error'> = {};

  // Database connectivity
  try {
    await db.$queryRaw`SELECT 1`;
    checks.database = 'ok';
  } catch {
    checks.database = 'error';
  }

  const allHealthy = Object.values(checks).every(v => v === 'ok');

  return Response.json({
    status: allHealthy ? 'healthy' : 'degraded',
    checks,
    version: process.env.VERCEL_GIT_COMMIT_SHA?.slice(0, 7) ?? 'local',
    region: process.env.VERCEL_REGION ?? 'local',
    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
  }, {
    status: allHealthy ? 200 : 503,
  });
}

Step 7: Vercel Configuration

// vercel.json
{
  "regions": ["iad1"],
  "headers": [
    {
      "source": "/(.*)",
      "headers": [
        { "key": "X-Content-Type-Options", "value": "nosniff" },
        { "key": "X-Frame-Options", "value": "DENY" },
        { "key": "Referrer-Policy", "value": "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "rewrites": [
    { "source": "/docs/:path*", "destination": "https://docs.example.com/:path*" }
  ],
  "redirects": [
    { "source": "/old-page", "destination": "/new-page", "permanent": true }
  ]
}

Layer Responsibilities

Output

• Layered project structure with clear separation of concerns
• Typed environment variables validated at startup
• Lazy-initialized database client minimizing cold starts
• Edge Middleware handling authentication before server layer
• Health check endpoint for deployment verification

Error Handling

Resources

• Next.js Project Structure
• Vercel Project Configuration
• Middleware Documentation
• API Routes (App Router)

Next Steps

For multi-environment setup, see vercel-multi-env-setup.