Rallly on Google Cloud Run

Rallly is an open-source, self-hosted meeting-scheduling and group-poll application — a privacy-friendly alternative to Doodle — built with Next.js and Prisma. This module deploys Rallly 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 Rallly 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

Rallly runs as a single Next.js 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	Next.js service, 1 vCPU / 2 GiB by default, serverless autoscaling; scale-to-zero supported
Database	Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15	Required — Rallly does not support MySQL or other engines
Email	SMTP relay (external)	Passwordless email login; provide your own SMTP host/credentials
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated SECRET_PASSWORD and NEXTAUTH_SECRET; optional SMTP_PWD; database password
Ingress	Cloud Run URL / Cloud Load Balancing	Default run.app URL; optional external HTTPS load balancer + custom domain

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

• PostgreSQL 15 is mandatory. The database engine is fixed by the shared application layer; selecting any other engine breaks startup. All Rallly state (polls, votes, comments, users) lives in this database.
• SECRET_PASSWORD and NEXTAUTH_SECRET are generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager. These keys must not be rotated after first boot without a maintenance window — rotating SECRET_PASSWORD invalidates previously encrypted data, and rotating NEXTAUTH_SECRET invalidates all active sessions and in-flight login links.
• Rallly login is passwordless and email-based. Users register and sign in by receiving a verification link/code, so a working SMTP configuration is effectively required before anyone can log in. This variant defaults smtp_host to smtp.gmail.com; you must still supply smtp_user / smtp_password (or clear smtp_host) for mail to actually send.
• The public base URL is set automatically. NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL / NEXTAUTH_URL default to this service's deterministic Cloud Run URL and are corrected at runtime from CLOUDRUN_SERVICE_URL by the entrypoint. Set base_url to your custom domain before going live so invite and login links resolve correctly.
• Scale-to-zero is enabled by default (min_instance_count = 0, max = 1). Cold starts add a few seconds of latency to the first request after idle; set min_instance_count = 1 to keep the service warm.
• NFS and Redis are disabled. Rallly stores all state in PostgreSQL and needs no shared filesystem or cache; both are off by default (Redis is hard-wired off).
• Migrations run on start. The container's own ./docker-start.sh runs prisma migrate deploy on every boot, so version upgrades apply schema changes without a separate migration step. The db-init job only provisions the empty database and role.

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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 Rallly service

Rallly 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"
  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

Rallly stores all application data (polls, options, participants, votes, comments, and user accounts) in a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15 instance. The service connects privately through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy over a Unix socket (enable_cloudsql_volume = true); no public IP is exposed. On first deploy the db-init Job creates the application database and role; Rallly then applies its own Prisma schema on start.

• 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 (rallly), user (rallly), and password secret are in the Outputs. See App_CloudRun for the connection model, backups, and password rotation.

C. Email (SMTP)

Rallly sends login/verification and invitation emails through an external SMTP relay. When smtp_host is set, the container receives SMTP_HOST, SMTP_PORT, SMTP_USER, SMTP_SECURE, and the SMTP_PWD secret. There is no managed Google email service — supply your own (Gmail SMTP, SendGrid, Mailgun, etc.).

• CLI (verify the injected settings on the running revision):

  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --region "$REGION" \
    --format='value(spec.template.spec.containers[0].env)'

D. Secret Manager

Two cryptographic secrets are generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager: SECRET_PASSWORD (Rallly's data-encryption / session secret) and NEXTAUTH_SECRET (signs NextAuth session tokens and email login links). A third, SMTP_PWD, is created only when SMTP is configured. The database password is managed separately by the foundation.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

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

See App_CloudRun for injection and rotation details.

E. Networking & ingress

The service is reachable at its run.app URL by default. 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 base_url to the public hostname so Rallly's invite and login links match the address users actually visit.

• 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.

F. 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.

• 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. Rallly Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. An initialization Job runs db-init.sh using postgres:15-alpine. It connects through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy and idempotently creates the application database and role, grants privileges, and then signals the proxy to shut down. It is configured with max_retries = 3 and is safe to re-run.
• Schema migrations on start. Rallly's own ./docker-start.sh runs prisma migrate deploy on every startup, so the schema is created on the first boot after db-init and upgrading the application version applies schema changes without a separate migration step.
• SECRET_PASSWORD and NEXTAUTH_SECRET are immutable after first boot. They are generated once and written to Secret Manager. Changing SECRET_PASSWORD invalidates previously encrypted data; changing NEXTAUTH_SECRET invalidates all active sessions and in-flight login links. Only rotate during a planned maintenance window.
• Passwordless email login. Rallly authenticates users via emailed verification links/codes. Without a working SMTP relay, users cannot receive login emails and effectively cannot sign in. Confirm SMTP settings on the running revision after deploy.
• Public base URL. NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL / NEXTAUTH_URL are set from the predicted Cloud Run URL at plan time and corrected at runtime from CLOUDRUN_SERVICE_URL. If you front the service with a custom domain, set base_url to it so links resolve to the address users visit:

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

• Health path. The startup probe is TCP (not HTTP), not /api/status — Rallly's /api/status endpoint only returns 2xx once the app reports full readiness (DB + Redis
  • deps), so an HTTP probe on that path never passed even though Next.js was already listening on :3000; a TCP check succeeds as soon as the port is bound, which is the right gate for routing traffic. Default: 30-second initial delay, 20-second period, 10 retries (~230 seconds of budget) to cover the first-boot Prisma migration. The liveness probe is disabled by default for the same reason — Cloud Run liveness can't use a TCP socket, and an HTTP check on /api/status would restart-loop a healthy-but-not-yet-fully-ready container; the TCP startup probe already gates routing.
• 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 Rallly are listed; every other input is inherited from App_CloudRun with its standard behaviour.

Group 2 — Application Identity

Variable	Default	Description
application_name	rallly	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
application_version	latest	Rallly image tag (lukevella/rallly); pin to a specific release in production.

Group 3 — Runtime & Scaling

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only.
cpu_limit	1000m	CPU per instance; 1 vCPU is sufficient for typical use.
memory_limit	2Gi	Memory per instance.
min_instance_count	0	0 enables scale-to-zero; set 1 to avoid cold starts.
max_instance_count	1	Rallly is stateless in Postgres and can scale horizontally; raise as needed.
container_port	3000	Rallly listens on port 3000.
cpu_always_allocated	false	Request-based billing. Rallly's response pipeline (notification emails) only runs after a request, so idle CPU is not needed.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	Cloud SQL Auth Proxy Unix socket for PostgreSQL.
base_url	""	Public URL for NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL / NextAuth links. Empty → the deterministic Cloud Run URL. Set to your custom domain before going live.

Group 5 — Access, Ingress & Email

Variable	Default	Description
ingress_settings	all	Traffic sources permitted to reach the service.
enable_iap	false	Require Google sign-in in front of Rallly (Cloud Run native IAP).
smtp_host	smtp.gmail.com	SMTP relay hostname. A non-empty value provisions SMTP_PWD and injects the SMTP_* env vars. Clear it to disable email.
smtp_port	587	SMTP port (587 STARTTLS, 465 SSL).
smtp_user	""	SMTP username — set this (with smtp_password) or email login will not work.
smtp_password	"" (sensitive)	SMTP password. Empty → an auto-generated secret is stored.
smtp_secure_enabled	false	Enable implicit TLS/SSL (true for port 465).
mail_from	""	Sender address for NOREPLY_EMAIL / SUPPORT_EMAIL. Empty → noreply@rallly.local.

Group 11 — Database Backend

Variable	Default	Description
db_name	rallly	PostgreSQL database name. Immutable after first deploy.
db_user	rallly	Application database user. Password auto-generated in Secret Manager.
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Fixed — Rallly requires PostgreSQL 15.

Group 11 — Storage & Filesystem

Variable	Default	Description
enable_nfs	false	NFS is off — Rallly stores all state in PostgreSQL.
gcs_volumes	[]	No GCS Fuse volumes are required.

Group 13 — Observability & Health

Variable	Default	Description
startup_probe	TCP, 30s delay / 20s period / 10 retries	Deliberately TCP, not HTTP /api/status — that endpoint only returns 2xx at full readiness (DB + Redis + deps), which would never let a healthy container start routing. Allow for the first-boot Prisma migration.
liveness_probe	Disabled (enabled = false)	HTTP /api/status, 15s delay, but disabled by default — an early HTTP check on that path would restart-loop a healthy container before full readiness; the TCP startup probe already gates routing.

Group 20 — Redis Cache

Variable	Default	Description
enable_redis	false	Rallly uses no Redis; leave disabled.

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 (none by default for Rallly).
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 (db-init).
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 — IAP with no authorized identities, a gen1 runtime with NFS/GCS mounts, enable_cloudsql_volume = true with database_type = NONE, 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
SECRET_PASSWORD (auto-generated)	Never rotate after first boot	Critical	Rotating it invalidates previously encrypted data and active sessions.
NEXTAUTH_SECRET (auto-generated)	Only rotate in a maintenance window	Critical	Rotating it invalidates all active sessions and in-flight email login 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	Rallly supports only PostgreSQL 15; any other engine breaks startup.
enable_backup_import	false unless restoring	Critical	Enabling without a valid backup_uri fails the import job.
smtp_user / smtp_password	Set when smtp_host is set	High	With smtp_host set (default smtp.gmail.com) but empty credentials, login emails never send and users cannot sign in.
base_url	Your custom domain	High	If left empty behind a custom domain, invite and login links point at the raw run.app URL instead of the address users visit.
enable_iap	Only for internal deployments	High	IAP puts a Google-auth gate in front of Rallly; anonymous poll participants cannot reach it.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	High	The Auth Proxy socket is required for PostgreSQL connectivity; a plan-time guard blocks it with database_type = NONE.
min_instance_count	1 for latency-sensitive use	Medium	Scale-to-zero (0) adds a cold-start delay on the first request after idle.
startup_probe timing	Keep the generous default	Medium	Too tight a window can fail the probe during the first-boot Prisma migration.
backup_retention_days	7 (raise for prod)	Medium	Too short for compliance retention.

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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. Rallly-specific application configuration shared with the GKE variant is described in Rallly_Common.