BASE_PATH.md

Base Path Configuration

This document explains how the base path is configured for different deployment environments.

GitHub Pages

For GitHub Pages, we must set the base path to /nostr-app/ since the app is deployed to a subdirectory of the domain edufeed-org.github.io.

This is handled in the GitHub Actions workflows by passing the --base=/nostr-app/ flag to the Vite build command:

- name: Build application
  run: npm run build -- --base=/nostr-app/

Docker Deployment

For Docker deployment (or any deployment to a root domain), the base path should be / (root).

If you deploy the Docker image to a subdirectory:

1. Modify the Dockerfile to set the appropriate base path during build:

# Build stage
FROM node:22-alpine AS builder

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Copy package files
COPY package*.json ./

# Install dependencies
RUN npm ci --only=production && npm cache clean --force

# Copy source code
COPY . .

# Build the application - note the base path setting
# Change this to the appropriate path if deployed to a subdirectory
RUN npm run build -- --base=/

# Continue with the production stage...

Local Development

For local development, Vite uses a base path of / by default, which is correct for localhost.

Adding to vite.config.ts (Alternative Approach)

If you prefer to set the base path in the configuration file instead of the command line, you can add it to vite.config.ts:

import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react'
import path from 'path'

// https://vitejs.dev/config/
export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [react()],
  resolve: {
    alias: {
      '@': path.resolve(__dirname, './src'),
    },
  },
  // Set the base path - use environment variables to switch between environments
  base: process.env.VITE_BASE_PATH || '/',
})

Then set the environment variable during the build process:

- name: Build application for GitHub Pages
  run: VITE_BASE_PATH=/nostr-app/ npm run build

Or for Docker:

RUN VITE_BASE_PATH=/ npm run build