Tandoor on Google Cloud Run

Tandoor Recipes is an open-source, AGPL-3.0-licensed self-hosted recipe manager and meal planner with a Python/Django REST API backend and a bundled Vue 3 frontend. This module deploys Tandoor 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 Tandoor 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.

---

1. Overview

Tandoor runs as a single all-in-one container on Cloud Run v2 — nginx runs inside the container and proxies to gunicorn over a Unix socket, so no sidecar or additional_services entry is needed. The deployment wires together a focused set of Google Cloud services:

Capability	Google Cloud service	Notes
Compute	Cloud Run v2	Single all-in-one container (nginx + gunicorn), 1 vCPU / 512Mi by default, serverless autoscaling; scale-to-zero supported
Database	Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15	Required — Tandoor has no supported production fallback engine
Object storage	Cloud Storage	A dedicated data bucket provisioned automatically (for recipe images), not auto-mounted
Cache	Redis (optional)	Genuinely optional — Django falls back to local-memory cache when unset; no Celery/background worker
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated Django SECRET_KEY and initial superuser password; 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. Tandoor_Common fixes database_type = "POSTGRES_15" and DB_ENGINE = django.db.backends.postgresql. Tandoor's boot.sh polls pg_isready before proceeding — no lazy-connect — so the database must be reachable at container start.
• Discrete Postgres env vars, not a DSN. Tandoor reads POSTGRES_USER / POSTGRES_PASSWORD / POSTGRES_HOST / POSTGRES_PORT / POSTGRES_DB directly. The platform's standard DB_* values are aliased onto these names via the db_*_env_var_name Foundation variables. No URL-encoding or custom entrypoint is needed.
• SECRET_KEY and the superuser password are generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager. SECRET_KEY must never be rotated after first boot without a maintenance window — rotating it invalidates all active sessions and any signed tokens (e.g. password-reset links) in flight.
• No fixed/hardcoded admin credential. Unlike this catalogue's other recipe-manager module (Mealie, which ships an undocumented, unconfigurable changeme@example.com/MyPassword), Tandoor has a create-superuser init job that bootstraps a real, unique credential from Secret Manager on every deployment.
• Scale-to-zero is enabled by default (min_instance_count = 0, cpu_always_allocated = false). Tandoor has no background worker or scheduled task runner — its recipe URL-import scraping runs synchronously within the triggering request — so request-based billing needs no override.
• Redis is genuinely optional and disabled by default. CACHES['default'] only switches to Redis if REDIS_HOST is set; otherwise Django's built-in local-memory cache is used. There is no Celery worker or queue to keep warm.
• Recipe image storage is not GCS-mounted by default. A data bucket is created but not automatically mounted — add a gcs_volumes entry at /opt/recipes/mediafiles if uploaded recipe images need to persist across revisions.

---

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 Tandoor service

Tandoor 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

Tandoor stores all application data (recipes, meal plans, shopping lists, users) in a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15 instance. The service connects privately through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy over a Unix socket (though the db_host_env_var_name alias used by Tandoor's own POSTGRES_HOST resolves to the raw private IP on Cloud Run — see the Pitfalls table). On first deploy, an initialization Job creates the application database and user, and a second job bootstraps the superuser account.

• 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 data bucket is provisioned automatically for recipe images, but is not auto-mounted into the container. Additional buckets can be declared via storage_buckets; mount the data bucket by adding an entry to gcs_volumes targeting /opt/recipes/mediafiles.

• Console: Cloud Storage → Buckets.
• CLI:

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

See App_CloudRun for GCS Fuse and CMEK options.

D. Redis (optional cache)

Redis is disabled by default. Tandoor has no Celery worker or background queue — enabling Redis only switches Django's cache backend from local-memory to a shared Redis instance, useful for multi-instance deployments that need a shared cache.

• Console: Memorystore → Redis (if using a managed instance).
• CLI:

  redis-cli -h <redis-host> ping

E. Secret Manager

Two application secrets are generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager: the Django SECRET_KEY (cryptographic signing for sessions, CSRF tokens, password-reset links) and DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD (the initial superuser login). The database password is managed separately by the foundation.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

  gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=secret-<prefix>-tandoor-superuser-password --project "$PROJECT"

See App_CloudRun for injection and rotation details.

F. 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.

• 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.

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

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

---

3. Tandoor Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. The db-init initialization Job runs using postgres:15-alpine. It connects through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy and idempotently creates the application database and user and grants privileges. The job is safe to re-run.
• Superuser bootstrap. The create-superuser init job depends on db-init. It applies Django migrations (idempotent — a safety net, since boot.sh also migrates on every container start of the main service, but the init job may run before that first boot completes) and then runs python manage.py createsuperuser --noinput, reading DJANGO_SUPERUSER_USERNAME / DJANGO_SUPERUSER_EMAIL / DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD from the environment. It checks for an existing account first, so re-applying the module does not error on an already-bootstrapped instance.
• Migrations on every start. Tandoor's own boot.sh applies Django migrations on every container start (idempotent), so upgrading application_version applies schema changes automatically.
• SECRET_KEY is immutable after first boot. Generated once and written to Secret Manager. Rotating it invalidates all active sessions and any in-flight signed tokens (e.g. password-reset links). Only rotate during a planned maintenance window.
• Health path. The startup probe targets /accounts/login/ — Django's public, unauthenticated login view — since Tandoor has no dedicated health/info endpoint. It only renders 200 once the app has connected to Postgres and applied migrations, making it a genuine readiness signal. The liveness probe uses a plain TCP (port-listening) check instead, so a transient DB hiccup doesn't flap an already-healthy instance.
• Log in with the generated credential. Retrieve DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD from Secret Manager and log in at /accounts/login/ with the configured admin_username (default admin).
• Inspect job execution:

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

---

4. Configuration Variables

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

Group 1 — Project & Identity

Variable	Default	Description
project_id	(required)	Target Google Cloud project.
region	us-central1	Region for the service and regional resources.

Group 2 — Deployment Environment

Variable	Default	Description
tenant_deployment_id	demo	Short suffix that makes resource names unique per environment.
support_users	[]	Emails granted project access and monitoring alerts.
resource_labels	{}	Labels applied to all resources.

Group 3 — Application Identity

Variable	Default	Description
application_name	tandoor	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
application_display_name	Tandoor	Human-readable name shown in the Console.
application_description	Tandoor recipe manager on Cloud Run	Service description.
application_version	latest	Tandoor publishes a genuine latest tag — passes straight through as the image tag.

Group 4 — Runtime & Scaling

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only.
container_image_source	prebuilt	Tandoor uses the official image directly — no custom build needed.
container_image	""	Leave empty for the module default (vabene1111/recipes).
cpu_limit	1000m	CPU per instance.
memory_limit	512Mi	Memory per instance.
min_instance_count	0	Scale-to-zero by default.
max_instance_count	1	Raise for concurrent traffic.
container_port	80	Tandoor's nginx listens on port 80 (TANDOOR_PORT).
cpu_always_allocated	false	Request-based billing — no background worker to keep warm.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	Cloud SQL Auth Proxy for socket connections.
enable_image_mirroring	true	Mirror the Tandoor image into Artifact Registry.

Group 5 — Access & Ingress Control

Variable	Default	Description
ingress_settings	all	Public ingress by default.
vpc_egress_setting	PRIVATE_RANGES_ONLY	Route only RFC 1918 traffic via VPC.
enable_iap	false	Require Google sign-in.
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. DB_ENGINE, ALLOWED_HOSTS, PGSSLMODE, DJANGO_SUPERUSER_USERNAME/EMAIL are set automatically — do not override these here unless you know what you're changing.
secret_environment_variables	{}	Map of env var → Secret Manager secret name.
secret_propagation_delay	30	Seconds to wait after secret creation before proceeding.
secret_rotation_period	2592000s	Secret Manager rotation notification frequency.

Group 7 — Backup & Restore

Variable	Default	Description
backup_schedule	0 2 * * *	Automated backup cron (UTC).
backup_retention_days	7	Retention; raise for production/compliance.
enable_backup_import / backup_source / backup_file / backup_format	restore options	Restore from a backup on deploy.

Group 8 — CI/CD & Binary Authorization

Standard App_CloudRun Cloud Build / Cloud Deploy integration — see App_CloudRun. Key inputs: enable_cicd_trigger, github_repository_url, github_token, enable_cloud_deploy, enable_binary_authorization.

Group 9 — Custom SQL Scripts

enable_custom_sql_scripts, custom_sql_scripts_bucket, custom_sql_scripts_path, custom_sql_scripts_use_root — run SQL from a GCS bucket after provisioning. See App_CloudRun.

Group 10 — Load Balancer, CDN & Image Retention

Variable	Default	Description
enable_cloud_armor	false	Provision Global HTTPS LB + Cloud Armor WAF.
admin_ip_ranges	[]	CIDR ranges exempted from WAF rules.
application_domains	[]	Custom domain names for the HTTPS LB.
enable_cdn	false	Enable Cloud CDN on the HTTPS LB backend.
max_images_to_retain / delete_untagged_images / image_retention_days	(set)	Artifact Registry cleanup policy.

Group 11 — Storage & Filesystem

Variable	Default	Description
create_cloud_storage	true	Create GCS buckets defined in storage_buckets.
storage_buckets	[]	Additional GCS buckets beyond the auto-provisioned data bucket.
gcs_volumes	[]	Add an entry mounted at /opt/recipes/mediafiles to persist recipe images across revisions.
enable_nfs	false	NFS is off by default.
manage_storage_kms_iam / enable_artifact_registry_cmek	false	CMEK options.

Group 12 — Database Backend

Variable	Default	Description
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Fixed by Tandoor_Common; not forwarded.
application_database_name	tandoor	PostgreSQL database name. Immutable after first deploy.
application_database_user	tandoor	Application database user. Password auto-generated in Secret Manager.
database_password_length	32	Generated password length (16–64).
db_host_env_var_name	POSTGRES_HOST	Tandoor's Postgres host env var name.
db_user_env_var_name	POSTGRES_USER	Tandoor's Postgres user env var name.
db_password_env_var_name	POSTGRES_PASSWORD	Tandoor's Postgres password env var name.
db_name_env_var_name	POSTGRES_DB	Tandoor's Postgres database env var name.
db_port_env_var_name	POSTGRES_PORT	Tandoor's Postgres port env var name.
admin_username	admin	Initial superuser username (DJANGO_SUPERUSER_USERNAME).
admin_email	admin@techequity.cloud	Initial superuser email (DJANGO_SUPERUSER_EMAIL).
enable_auto_password_rotation / rotation_propagation_delay_sec	off	DB password rotation.

Group 13 — Jobs & Scheduled Tasks

Variable	Default	Description
initialization_jobs	[]	Leave empty to use the built-in db-init + create-superuser job pair.
cron_jobs	[]	Not used — Tandoor has no platform-scheduled recurring tasks.

Group 14 — Observability & Health

Variable	Default	Description
startup_probe	HTTP /accounts/login/ 30s delay	Startup probe — passes once Postgres connectivity and migrations succeed.
liveness_probe	TCP 30s delay	Liveness probe — a plain port-listening check.
startup_probe_config	HTTP /accounts/login/	Alternative structured probe forwarded directly to the Foundation.
health_check_config	TCP	Alternative structured liveness probe forwarded directly to the Foundation.
uptime_check_config	{ enabled=false }	Cloud Monitoring uptime check; enable explicitly to activate.
alert_policies	[]	Metric alert policies.

Group 16 — Redis Cache

Variable	Default	Description
enable_redis	false	Tandoor does not require Redis; leave false unless integrating an external instance.
redis_host	""	Redis endpoint.
redis_port	6379	Redis port.

Group 22 — VPC Service Controls & Audit Logging

Variable	Default	Description
enable_vpc_sc	false	Enforce a VPC-SC perimeter (requires organization_id).
vpc_cidr_ranges / vpc_sc_dry_run	(set)	Access level CIDRs / dry-run mode.
enable_audit_logging	false	Detailed Cloud Audit Logs.

---

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 URLs (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 (db-init, create-superuser).
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.

---

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. Invalid configuration fails the plan with a clear, named error before any resource is created.

Setting	Sensible value	Risk	Consequence if wrong
SECRET_KEY (auto-generated)	Never rotate after first boot	Critical	Rotating it invalidates all active sessions and any signed tokens (e.g. password-reset links) in flight.
application_database_name / application_database_user	Set once	Critical	Immutable after first deploy; renaming recreates the DB/user and destroys all data.
enable_backup_import	false unless restoring	Critical	Enabling without a valid backup_file fails the import job.
startup_probe path	/accounts/login/	Critical	Pointing the probe at an authenticated/admin endpoint returns 401/403 and the revision never becomes Ready — Tandoor has no other unauthenticated health endpoint.
gcs_volumes bucket_name formula	gcs-tandoor<tenant_prefix>-data	High	A wrong prefix mounts a non-existent bucket, leaving the pod stuck at Init.
DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD (auto-generated)	Retrieve from Secret Manager before first login	Medium	Without retrieving it, you cannot log in — there is no fallback credential like Mealie's fixed default.
db_ssl_mode (PGSSLMODE, set internally)	require on Cloud Run	High	The db_host_env_var_name alias resolves to the raw Cloud SQL private IP on Cloud Run (not a socket), which rejects unencrypted TCP — this module hardcodes require in its wiring so this should not need manual attention, but do not override it to disable.
enable_redis	false unless needed	Low	Tandoor has no background worker; Redis only affects Django's cache backend.
ingress_settings	all for a public app	Medium	Setting to internal blocks browser access unless paired with IAP or a private network path.
memory_limit	≥512Mi	Medium	Gen2 execution environment enforces a 512Mi floor regardless of billing mode; values below this are rejected at apply.

---

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. Tandoor-specific application configuration shared with the GKE variant is described in Tandoor_Common.