Fider on Google Cloud Run

Fider is an open-source, self-hosted feedback and feature-voting board — customers post ideas, vote, and comment, and you prioritise by demand. This module deploys Fider on Cloud Run v2 on top of the App_CloudRun foundation, which provisions and manages the shared Google Cloud infrastructure.

This guide focuses on the cloud services Fider uses and how to explore and operate them from the Google Cloud Console and the command line. For the mechanics common to every Cloud Run application — service identity, ingress and load balancing, scaling and concurrency, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC Service Controls, backups, and the deployment lifecycle — refer to the App_CloudRun foundation guide rather than repeating them here.

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1. Overview

Fider runs as a single Go container on Cloud Run v2. The deployment wires together a focused set of Google Cloud services:

Capability	Google Cloud service	Notes
Compute	Cloud Run v2	Single Go binary, 2 vCPU / 4 GiB by default, serverless autoscaling
Database	Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15	Required — Fider does not support MySQL or other engines
Object storage	Cloud Storage	A dedicated storage bucket provisioned automatically
File storage	Cloud Filestore (NFS)	Enabled by default for attachment storage
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated JWT_SECRET; database password
Ingress	Cloud Run URL / Cloud Load Balancing	Default run.app URL; optional external HTTPS LB + custom domain

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

• PostgreSQL 15 is mandatory. The database engine is fixed by the shared application layer (database_type = POSTGRES_15); selecting any other engine breaks startup.
• JWT_SECRET is generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager. It signs all authentication and session tokens (including emailed magic sign-in links) and must never be rotated after first boot — doing so invalidates all active sessions and pending sign-in links.
• Fider is a single Go binary with no background worker. All state lives in PostgreSQL, so there is no queue process to keep warm. The module ships min_instance_count = 1 with cpu_always_allocated = true for a consistently warm service; because there is no background work, setting min_instance_count = 0 (scale-to-zero) is data-safe if you prefer to trade a cold start for lower cost.
• No Redis. Fider uses a PostgreSQL-backed queue and cache (empty VALKEY_URL), so enable_redis defaults to false. Leave it off unless you deliberately externalise to Redis.
• NFS is enabled by default (enable_nfs = true) to provide a Cloud Filestore mount for Fider attachment storage.
• The container listens on port 3000. The entrypoint exports PORT = 3000; Cloud Run also auto-injects PORT = <container_port>.
• Schema migrations run on boot. The custom entrypoint runs ./fider migrate before starting the server, so upgrading the version applies schema changes with no separate step.
• Email is disabled for the demo. Placeholder SMTP values let the app boot; sign-up / invite links are printed to the container log until real SMTP is wired via environment_variables.

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2. Google Cloud Services & How to Explore Them

All commands assume PROJECT and REGION are set. Service and resource names are reported in the deployment Outputs.

A. Cloud Run — the Fider service

Fider runs as a Cloud Run v2 service that autoscales by request load between the minimum and maximum instance counts. Each deployment creates an immutable revision; traffic can be split across revisions for safe rollouts.

• Console: Cloud Run → select the service for revisions, traffic, logs, and metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services list --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION" \
    --filter="metadata.name~fider"
  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"
  gcloud run revisions list --service <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"

See App_CloudRun for scaling, concurrency, execution environment, and traffic splitting.

B. Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15

Fider stores all application data (posts, votes, comments, users, settings) in a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15 instance. The service connects privately through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy over a Unix socket; no public IP is exposed. On first deploy the db-init Job creates the application role and database and grants privileges; Fider then runs its own migrations on boot.

• Console: SQL → select the instance for connections, backups, flags, metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud sql instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql instances describe <instance-name> --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql connect <instance-name> --user=<db-user> --database=<db-name> --project "$PROJECT"

The instance name, database, user, and password secret are in the Outputs. See App_CloudRun for the connection model, backups, and password rotation.

C. Cloud Storage

A dedicated Cloud Storage bucket (suffix storage) is provisioned automatically. Additional buckets can be declared via storage_buckets.

• Console: Cloud Storage → Buckets.
• CLI:

  gcloud storage buckets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud storage ls gs://<storage-bucket>/        # bucket name is in the Outputs

See App_CloudRun for GCS Fuse and CMEK options.

D. Cloud Filestore (NFS)

NFS is enabled by default (enable_nfs = true) to give Fider a Cloud Filestore mount for attachment storage. The shared NFS server VM (managed by Services_GCP) must be RUNNING before the app deploys.

• Console: Filestore → Instances.
• CLI:

  gcloud filestore instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  # Confirm the mount path injected into the running revision:
  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --region "$REGION" \
    --format='value(spec.template.spec.volumes)'

Fider does not use Redis — do not expect a Memorystore or Redis endpoint.

E. Secret Manager

One cryptographic secret is generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager: JWT_SECRET (signs authentication and session tokens). The database password is managed separately by the foundation.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

  gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT" --filter="name~fider"
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<secret-name> --project "$PROJECT"

See App_CloudRun for injection and rotation details.

F. Networking & ingress

The service is reachable at its run.app URL by default (ingress_settings = "all"). An external HTTPS load balancer with a custom domain, Cloud CDN, and Cloud Armor can be layered on; ingress settings and VPC egress control connectivity. Set a custom BASE_URL via environment_variables when serving from a custom domain.

Use the numeric-project URL, not status.url. Every Cloud Run service is reachable at two equally-valid hostnames: a numeric-project form (https://<service>-<project-number>.<region>.run.app) and a random-suffix form (https://<service>-<random8>-<regioncode>.a.run.app, what gcloud run services describe --format='value(status.url)' reports). Fider's own Content-Security-Policy header is scoped to whichever hostname it was booted against — normally the numeric-project form — so a browser landing on the random-suffix status.url gets every asset request (CSS, JS) blocked by the CSP and renders a completely blank page. Always share/visit the numeric-project form.

• Console: Cloud Run (service URL); Network services → Load balancing.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --region "$REGION" --format='value(status.url)'
  gcloud compute addresses list --project "$PROJECT"

See App_CloudRun.

G. Cloud Logging & Monitoring

Container logs flow to Cloud Logging; Cloud Run and Cloud SQL metrics flow to Cloud Monitoring, with optional uptime checks and alert policies. Note that when email is disabled, sign-up / invite links appear in the logs.

• Console: Logging → Logs Explorer; Monitoring → Dashboards / Alerting.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services logs read <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION" --limit 50

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3. Fider Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. The db-init Job runs db-init.sh using postgres:15-alpine. It connects through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy and idempotently creates the fider role and database, grants privileges, and reassigns ownership of the public schema to the application role. The job is safe to re-run.
• Schema migrations on start. The custom entrypoint runs ./fider migrate before launching the server (the image's CMD is overridden to ./fider only). Migrations are idempotent, so upgrading the application version applies schema changes on the next start without a separate migration step.
• JWT_SECRET is immutable after first boot. It is generated once and written to Secret Manager. Changing it invalidates all active user sessions and any pending emailed sign-in links. Only rotate during a planned maintenance window.
• First-run setup. There are no default credentials. The first visit to the service URL walks an operator through creating the site and its admin owner. Complete this immediately after deploy — use the numeric-project URL, not the status.url random-suffix form (see the CSP/blank-page warning under Networking & ingress):

  gcloud run services describe <service-name> \
    --region "$REGION" --project "$PROJECT" \
    --format='value(metadata.annotations."run.googleapis.com/urls")'

• Email is off by default. Placeholder SMTP values let Fider boot with EMAIL_NOEMAIL = true; sign-up and invite links are printed to the container log. To send real mail, set the Fider SMTP variables (EMAIL_SMTP_HOST, EMAIL_SMTP_PORT, EMAIL_SMTP_USERNAME, EMAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD, EMAIL_NOREPLY) via environment_variables and remove EMAIL_NOEMAIL.
• Health path. Startup and liveness probes target /_health — an unauthenticated endpoint returning 200. Allow ~7 minutes on first boot (the default startup probe provides a 30-second initial delay plus a 30-failure retry window at a 15-second period).
• Inspect job execution:

  gcloud run jobs list --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"
  gcloud run jobs executions list --job <job-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"

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4. Configuration Variables

Variables are grouped exactly as they appear on the deployment platform. Only settings specific to or notable for Fider are listed; every other input is inherited from App_CloudRun with its standard behaviour.

Group 3 — Application Identity

Variable	Default	Description
application_name	fider	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
display_name	Fider	Human-readable name shown in the Console.
application_version	latest	Fider image tag (getfider/fider:<tag>), mapped to the FIDER_VERSION build ARG. latest is pinned to stable (there is no :latest tag); pin to a specific SHA tag in production.

Group 4 — Runtime & Scaling

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only.
cpu_limit	2000m	CPU per instance.
memory_limit	4Gi	Memory per instance.
min_instance_count	1	Warm baseline. Fider has no background worker, so 0 (scale-to-zero) is data-safe if you accept a cold start.
max_instance_count	5	Cost ceiling; must be ≥ min_instance_count.
cpu_always_allocated	true	Instance-based billing for a consistently warm service; safe to set false for request-based billing since Fider does no background work.
container_port	3000	Fider listens on 3000; Cloud Run auto-injects PORT.
execution_environment	gen2	Gen2 required for NFS and GCS Fuse mounts.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	Cloud SQL Auth Proxy for socket connections.
enable_image_mirroring	true	Mirror the Fider image into Artifact Registry.

Group 5 — Access & Ingress Control

Variable	Default	Description
ingress_settings	all	Public access; required to reach the site from browsers.
enable_iap	false	Require Google sign-in in front of Fider.
iap_authorized_users / iap_authorized_groups	[]	Who may access through IAP.

Group 6 — Environment Variables & Secrets

Variable	Default	Description
environment_variables	{}	Extra non-secret settings. Wire real SMTP (EMAIL_SMTP_*, EMAIL_NOREPLY) or a custom BASE_URL here. Do not set DATABASE_URL, JWT_SECRET, or PORT.
secret_environment_variables	{}	Map of env var → Secret Manager secret name.
secret_propagation_delay	30	Seconds to wait after secret creation before proceeding.

Group 11 — Storage & Filesystem

Variable	Default	Description
create_cloud_storage	true	Create the GCS buckets defined in storage_buckets.
enable_nfs	true	Cloud Filestore mount for Fider attachment storage.
nfs_mount_path	/opt/fider/storage	Mount path inside the container.
gcs_volumes	[]	GCS Fuse volume mounts (requires gen2).

Group 12 — Database Backend

Variable	Default	Description
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Fixed — Fider requires PostgreSQL.
db_name	fider	PostgreSQL database name. Immutable after first deploy.
db_user	fider	Application database user. Password auto-generated in Secret Manager.

Group 14 — Observability & Health

Variable	Default	Description
startup_probe	HTTP /_health, 30s delay	Allow ~7 minutes on first boot.
liveness_probe	HTTP /_health, 30s period	Liveness probe.
uptime_check_config	{ enabled=false, path="/" }	Optional Cloud Monitoring uptime check.

Group 21 — Redis Cache & Queue

Variable	Default	Description
enable_redis	false	Fider is Postgres-backed; leave off unless externalising to Redis.
redis_host / redis_port / redis_auth	"" / 6379 / ""	Only relevant if Redis is enabled.

All other inputs follow standard App_CloudRun behaviour.

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5. Outputs

Returned on a successful deployment — the quickest way to locate and explore the running resources.

Output	Description
service_name	Cloud Run service name.
service_url	Default run.app URL of the service.
service_location	Region the service runs in.
stage_services	Stage-specific service details (Cloud Deploy).
load_balancer_ip / load_balancer_url	External HTTPS load balancer IP / URL (when enabled).
database_instance_name	Cloud SQL instance name.
database_name / database_user	Application database name / user.
database_password_secret	Secret Manager secret holding the DB password.
database_host / database_port	DB endpoint / port.
storage_buckets	Created Cloud Storage buckets.
network_name / network_exists / regions	VPC network, presence, regions.
container_image / container_registry	Deployed image and Artifact Registry repo.
monitoring_enabled / monitoring_notification_channels / uptime_check_names	Monitoring status, channels, uptime checks.
initialization_jobs	Names of the setup jobs.
deployment_id / tenant_id / resource_prefix	Naming identifiers.
project_id / project_number	Project identifiers.
cicd_enabled / github_repository_url / github_repository_owner / github_repository_name / cicd_configuration	CI/CD status and details.
artifact_registry_repository / cloudbuild_trigger_name / cloudbuild_trigger_id	Registry and build trigger.
vpc_sc_enabled / vpc_sc_perimeter_name / vpc_sc_dry_run_mode	VPC-SC status.
audit_logging_enabled / artifact_registry_cmek_enabled	Audit logging and CMEK status.

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6. Configuration Pitfalls & Sensible Defaults

Risk: Critical (data loss / outage / security) — High (service degraded) — Medium (cost or partial degradation) — Low (minor).

Inherited plan-time validation. This module passes its configuration through the App_CloudRun foundation engine, which validates values and combinations at plan time — a read replica without its primary, IAP with no authorized identities, a gen1 runtime with NFS/GCS mounts, a database_type that does not match an enabled extension, an out-of-range redis_port/backup_retention_days. Invalid configuration fails the plan with a clear, named error before any resource is created, so most mistakes below are caught up front rather than at apply or runtime.

Setting	Sensible value	Risk	Consequence if wrong
JWT_SECRET (auto-generated)	Never rotate after first boot	Critical	Rotating it invalidates all active sessions and pending emailed sign-in links.
db_name / db_user	Set once	Critical	Immutable after first deploy; renaming recreates the DB/role and destroys all data.
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Critical	Any non-PostgreSQL engine breaks startup — Fider is Postgres-only.
enable_backup_import	false unless restoring	Critical	Enabling without a valid backup source fails the import job.
container_port	3000	High	A mismatched port makes probes hit a dead port and the revision never becomes Ready.
application_version	pin a SHA tag; latest → stable	High	getfider/fider has no :latest tag; the module pins latest to stable, but pin explicitly for reproducible upgrades.
memory_limit	4Gi (default)	Medium	Undersizing risks OOM under load; Fider itself is lightweight.
enable_nfs	true (default)	Medium	Disable only if you do not need attachment storage; the shared NFS VM must be RUNNING before deploy.
min_instance_count / cpu_always_allocated	1 / true (default)	Low	Fider has no background worker — 0 / false is data-safe and cheaper, at the cost of cold starts.
SMTP (EMAIL_SMTP_*)	Configure for real mail	Medium	Left as placeholders, sign-up / invite links only appear in the logs — no email is sent.
enable_iap	only when public access not needed	High	IAP blocks all unauthenticated requests, including anonymous browsing of the board.
Which Cloud Run URL to visit	numeric-project form, not status.url	High	Fider's CSP is scoped to the numeric-project hostname; visiting the random-suffix status.url form gets every asset blocked by the browser, rendering a blank page.

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For the foundation behaviour referenced throughout — service identity, scaling and concurrency, ingress and load balancing, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC-SC, backups, and image mirroring — see App_CloudRun. Fider-specific application configuration shared with the GKE variant is described in Fider_Common.