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HiCyou Open-Source Directory: Detailed Zero-Cost Deployment Guide

HiCyou is a free, open-source directory platform designed to help you discover, …

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HiCyou is a free, open-source directory platform designed to help you discover, organize, and submit useful tools and resources. Built on top of services like Vercel, Supabase, and Cloudflare R2, you can deploy your own link directory / resource hub at essentially zero cost — perfect for aggregating quality links, driving traffic to your main site, or showcasing curated resources.

HiCyou is ideal for indie developers, site owners, and teams who want to quickly spin up a “tool library / resource library” style site. You can use it to display and collect links yourself, or open it up for user submissions to build a continuously updated, high-quality directory.

Example use cases:

  1. Build a niche industry directory
    • e.g. AI tools directory, indie-hacker resources, designer tool collections, etc.
    • Organize by industry, function, tags, etc., to make browsing fast and intuitive for you and your users.
  2. Boost your domain’s DR / DA and other SEO metrics
    • Use the directory as a “resource hub” for your main site or other projects.
    • Thoughtful internal/external linking can help improve domain authority — useful for domain resale or managing a portfolio of sites.
  3. Create a personal / team resource center
    • Centralize commonly used tools, internal systems, and documentation links.
    • New teammates or partners can get all important links in one place.
  4. Publicly showcase curated tools and sites
    • Use it as a “recommended resources” sub-site for your blog, personal homepage, or brand website.
    • A curated resource list can improve perceived expertise and trust.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have the following:

  1. Code repository – If you forked this project, ensure the repo exists under your GitHub account.
  2. Vercel account – For hosting the frontend and API.
  3. Supabase account – For the PostgreSQL database and Auth.
  4. Cloudflare account – For R2 object storage (to store images).

Step 1: Configure Supabase (Database & Auth)

For a more detailed walkthrough with screenshots, see:
Supabase Guide: Set Up a Database, Configure Auth, and Integrate Resend from Scratch

  1. Log in to the Supabase Dashboard and create a new project.
  2. Get your database connection string:
    • Go to Project Settings -> Database.
    • Under Connection string, copy the URI-style connection string. This will be your DATABASE_URL.
    • Note: For production, it’s recommended to use the Connection Pooler (port 6543) for better connection management.
  3. Get your API keys:img
    • Go to Project Settings -> API Keys -> Legacy anon, service_role API keys.
    • Copy the anon public key → NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY.
    • Copy the service_role secret key → SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY.
    • Copy the Project URL → NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL.

Step 2: Configure Cloudflare R2 (Image Storage)

For a more detailed step-by-step guide, see:
Cloudflare R2 Guide: Free 10GB Storage, Free Egress, and S3-Compatible API Keys

  1. Log in to the Cloudflare Dashboard.
  2. In the left sidebar, go to R2.
  3. Create a bucket:
    • Click “Create bucket”, choose a name (e.g. hicyou-assets), and select “Automatic” or a region close to your target users.
    • Save this as R2_BUCKET_NAME.
  4. Configure public access:
    • Open the bucket you just created, go to “Settings” -> “Public Access”.
    • You can either bind a custom domain (recommended) or use an r2.dev subdomain.
    • Save the public base URL — this will be your R2_PUBLIC_URL.
  5. Create an API token:
    • Go back to the main R2 page and click “Manage R2 API Tokens” on the right.
    • Click “Create API token”.
    • For permissions, choose Object Read & Write.
    • After creating, note the following values:
      • Access Key ID → R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID
      • Secret Access Key → R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
      • Endpoint – e.g. https://<ACCOUNT_ID>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com
        • You only need the <ACCOUNT_ID> part for R2_ACCOUNT_ID.

Step 3: Local Configuration & Database Sync

Before deploying to Vercel, we’ll configure environment variables locally and sync the database schema and seed data to Supabase.

1. Set up local environment variables

  1. In the project root, copy the example env file: cp .env.example .env
  2. Open .env and fill in your Supabase and Cloudflare R2 values, plus your AI-related keys if needed: # Supabase NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://xxxx.supabase.co NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJh... SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=eyJh... # Database (recommended: Connection Pooler on port 6543 with ?pgbouncer=true) DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres.[ref]:[password]@aws-0-[region].pooler.supabase.com:6543/postgres?pgbouncer=true" # Cloudflare R2 R2_ACCOUNT_ID=... R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID=... R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=... R2_BUCKET_NAME=... R2_PUBLIC_URL=...

Environment variable reference:

Variable

Description

Database config

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL

Supabase project URL

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY

Supabase anon key

SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY

Supabase service role key

DATABASE_URL

Postgres connection string

Storage (R2)

R2_ACCOUNT_ID

Cloudflare account ID

R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID

R2 access key

R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

R2 secret key

R2_BUCKET_NAME

R2 bucket name

R2_PUBLIC_URL

Public base URL for R2 assets

R2_UPLOAD_DIR

Upload directory prefix (can keep default)

R2_LOGO_DIR

Logo directory name (optional, default is fine)

R2_COVER_DIR

Cover image directory name (optional, default is fine)

Site basics

NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL

Production domain for your site

NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_NAME

Site name

NEXT_PUBLIC_MAIL

Contact email

NEXT_PUBLIC_Blog

Blog URL

Security & admin

ADMIN_EMAILS

Admin email addresses (comma-separated)

CRON_SECRET

Secret for cron jobs (any long string; openssl rand -hex 32 works great)

Sponsor config (optional)

NEXT_PUBLIC_SPONSOR_IMAGE_URL

Sponsor image URL

NEXT_PUBLIC_SPONSOR_LINK

Sponsor link URL

NEXT_PUBLIC_SPONSOR_TEXT

Sponsor text

Other (optional)

EXASEARCH_API_KEY

Exa search API key

NEXT_PUBLIC_TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY

Cloudflare Turnstile site key (default can be CF’s test key)

TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY

Cloudflare Turnstile secret key

AI config (optional)

Chinese providers like Qwen, DeepSeek, Kimi are supported

AI_API_KEY

API key for your AI provider

AI_BASE_URL

Base URL for the AI API

AI_MODEL

Model name

2. Run database migrations (Schema Migration)

This will create all required tables and database structures in Supabase.

# Push migrations to the remote database
pnpm db:migrate

3. Seed initial data

This step inserts default categories and sample data so you have something to look at right away.

# Run the seed script
pnpm db:seed

Step 4: Vercel Setup & Deployment

img

img

  1. Log in to the Vercel Dashboard.
  2. Click “Add New…” -> “Project”.
  3. Select your GitHub repository and click “Import”.
  4. Framework Preset: Vercel should auto-detect this as Next.js — no need to change it.
  5. Environment Variables (critical step): Expand the Environment Variables section and copy over everything from your local .env into Vercel’s env vars.
  6. Click “Deploy”.

Step 5: Post-Deployment Checks

  1. Wait for the build to finish: Vercel will run next build automatically.
  2. Check the homepage: Open the assigned domain and make sure the homepage loads correctly.
  3. Validate database reads: Browse categories and detail pages to confirm data is loading from the database (since you ran the seed step, you should already see data).
  4. Check Auth: Click Login and verify that Supabase Auth works. Make sure you’ve added your production domain as a redirect URL in Supabase Auth settings.
  5. Test image uploads: Log in with an admin account, submit a new tool, and confirm that image uploads to R2 are working.
  6. Cron Jobs: In your Vercel project, go to Project Settings -> Cron Jobs and verify that scheduled tasks are configured as expected.

FAQ

  • Supabase Auth redirects to the wrong URL after login Make sure you’ve added your Vercel domain under Authentication -> URL Configuration -> Site URL / Redirect URLs in the Supabase dashboard.
  • Image upload fails
    • Check that your R2 API token has Write permissions.
    • Confirm that R2_PUBLIC_URL is correct and publicly accessible.
  • Database connection errors
    • If you’re using the Connection Pooler (port 6543), ensure your DATABASE_URL includes ?pgbouncer=true.
  • Local development
    • Before starting local dev, make sure DATABASE_URL in .env can connect successfully.
    • Then run: pnpm dev

Good luck with your deployment — and enjoy running your own open-source directory powered by HiCyou!