Deploying HiCyou on ClawCloud Run DevBox

What is HiCyou?

HiCyou is an open-source, modern link directory / tools catalog built for developers, creators, and teams.

You can use it to:

Curate and showcase AI tools, dev tools, design resources, etc.
Run a public tools directory where users can submit new resources.
Maintain an internal team resource center with commonly used links.
Build a “resources hub” that supports your main website, SEO, or brand.

Under the hood, HiCyou is a Next.js app that uses:

Supabase for Postgres + Auth
Cloudflare R2 for image / file storage
Vercel or container-based platforms (like ClawCloud Run) for hosting

This guide shows how to deploy HiCyou on ClawCloud Run DevBox, using DevBox as:

Your cloud dev machine + build box →
then publish a container image →
and deploy it to production with App Launchpad.

0. Prerequisites

Before you start with DevBox, make sure you already have:

HiCyou repository
- Fork or clone: https://github.com/hicyoucom/hicyou
Supabase project
- You should already have:
  - NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL
  - NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY
  - SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY
  - DATABASE_URL (ideally using the connection pooler on port 6543 with ?pgbouncer=true)
Cloudflare R2 bucket
- Values you’ll need:
  - R2_ACCOUNT_ID
  - R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID
  - R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
  - R2_BUCKET_NAME
  - R2_PUBLIC_URL
Optional AI config
- If you want AI-related features:
  - AI_API_KEY
  - AI_BASE_URL
  - AI_MODEL

Ideally, you’ve already tested HiCyou locally with a .env file and pnpm dev.

1. Create a DevBox on ClawCloud Run

Go to the ClawCloud Run dashboard, e.g. https://run.claw.cloud.
In the sidebar, find DevBox and click Create DevBox.
In the DevBox creation wizard:
- Framework / Runtime: choose Next.js (HiCyou is a Next.js app).
- CPU / Memory:
  - For basic usage: 1 CPU / 1–2 GB RAM is usually enough.
- Network Settings:
  - Container Port: 3000 (Next.js default, and HiCyou uses 3000 too).
  - Enable Internet Access so the app is reachable from the web.
  - You can start with the default auto-generated subdomain.
Click Create and wait for the DevBox to be provisioned.

2. Connect to the DevBox & Clone HiCyou

Go back to the DevBox List in the ClawCloud dashboard.
Find your DevBox and click the button to open it in an IDE:
- VS Code / Cursor / Windsurf etc. are all fine.
Once the IDE opens, it should connect to the DevBox environment.

In the DevBox terminal, run:

# 1. Clone the HiCyou repo
git clone https://github.com/hicyoucom/hicyou.git
cd hicyou

# 2. Check Node & pnpm (install pnpm if needed)
node -v
pnpm -v || npm install -g pnpm

If you want to follow your “Node 24 + pnpm + fnm” setup exactly, you can also install fnm inside DevBox, switch to Node 24, and then continue. It’s optional but keeps your stack consistent.

3. Configure Environment Variables & Sync the Database

3.1 Set up `.env` inside DevBox

In the DevBox terminal:

cp .env.example .env

Open .env in your IDE and fill in the values you prepared from Supabase / R2 / AI. For example:

# Supabase
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://xxxx.supabase.co
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJh...
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=eyJh...
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=https://assets.your-domain.com
R2_UPLOAD_DIR=hicyou/uploads
R2_LOGO_DIR=logos
R2_COVER_DIR=covers

# Basic site config
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL=https://your-devbox-domain
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_NAME="HiCyou"
[email protected]
NEXT_PUBLIC_BLOG=https://blog.example.com

# Admin & security
ADMIN_EMAILS="[email protected]"
CRON_SECRET=some-long-random-string

# AI (optional)
AI_API_KEY=...
AI_BASE_URL=https://api.your-ai-provider.com/v1
AI_MODEL=your-model-name

# Optional extras: Turnstile, sponsor config, Exa, etc.

Note: DevBox itself doesn’t need a local Postgres. HiCyou talks directly to Supabase.

3.2 Install dependencies & run migrations

# Install packages
pnpm install

# Generate & run migrations (creates DB schema on Supabase)
pnpm db:generate
pnpm db:migrate

# Seed initial data (default categories, example entries)
pnpm db:seed

At this point, your Supabase database should have all the tables and some starter data.

4. Test HiCyou Inside DevBox

Start the dev server in the DevBox terminal:

pnpm dev

Next.js will listen on port 3000.

You can access it in two ways:

Through your IDE’s port forwarding (great for development)
- In VS Code / Cursor, open the “Ports” panel.
- Find port 3000 and click Open in Browser.
Via DevBox’s public address
- In the ClawCloud DevBox detail page, look for the Public Address URL.
- Open that URL in your browser.

Check that:

The homepage loads.
Categories and detail pages show seeded data.
Login works (Supabase Auth).
Image upload works and files appear in your R2 bucket.

Once you’re happy, stop the dev server (Ctrl + C) and move on to the production build.

5. Build HiCyou for Production

From the DevBox terminal:

pnpm build

This produces the Next.js production build in .next.

To sanity check production mode, you can run:

pnpm start

HiCyou will again listen on port 3000, but now in production mode. Check a few pages to make sure everything still behaves correctly.

Stop it when you’re done (Ctrl + C).

6. Publish a Version from DevBox and Deploy with App Launchpad

The recommended pattern on ClawCloud is:

Use DevBox to build →
Publish a version (container image) →
Deploy that image with App Launchpad.

6.1 Publish a Version from DevBox

Go to the DevBox detail page in the ClawCloud dashboard.
Find the Version / Release section.
Click Publish Version:
- Image name: usually pre-filled by the platform.
- Version: e.g. v1.0.0.
- Description: e.g. Initial HiCyou release.
Confirm and wait for the image to be built and published.

After it’s done, you’ll see the new version in the DevBox release list.

6.2 Deploy HiCyou with App Launchpad

In the DevBox release list, find your version and click Deploy.
- This should open the App Launchpad “Create Application” flow with the image pre-selected.
Configure the app:
- Application Name: e.g. hicyou-prod.
- Image: use the one from DevBox (already filled in).
- Resources:
  - For small traffic: 0.5 CPU / 512–1024 MB RAM is enough.
- Network:
  - Container Port: 3000
  - Enable Internet Access
  - Optionally attach a custom domain, e.g. dir.yourdomain.com.
- Environment Variables: copy the values from your .env in DevBox, but adapt for production:
  - Supabase:
    - NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL
    - NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY
    - SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY
    - DATABASE_URL
  - R2:
    - R2_ACCOUNT_ID
    - R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID
    - R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
    - R2_BUCKET_NAME
    - R2_PUBLIC_URL
    - R2_UPLOAD_DIR, R2_LOGO_DIR, R2_COVER_DIR
  - Site:
    - NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL → your final production domain
    - NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_NAME
    - NEXT_PUBLIC_MAIL
    - NEXT_PUBLIC_BLOG
  - Admin & security:
    - ADMIN_EMAILS
    - CRON_SECRET
  - Optional:
    - AI_API_KEY, AI_BASE_URL, AI_MODEL
    - NEXT_PUBLIC_TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY, TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY
    - Sponsor / Exa / etc.
- Start command:
  - Use pnpm start
  - or npm run start if you prefer, as long as it matches your package scripts.
Click Deploy Application.
Once the app status becomes Running, open the Public Address:
- You’re now hitting HiCyou in production, deployed via ClawCloud App Launchpad using the DevBox-built image.

7. Updating HiCyou Later

When you want to update your site:

In DevBox, pull the latest code or make your changes: git pull # or edit directly in the DevBox IDE
Rebuild and migrate if needed: pnpm install # only if dependencies changed pnpm db:migrate # only if you added new migrations pnpm build
In the DevBox dashboard:
- Publish a new version, e.g. v1.1.0.
In the release list:
- Click Deploy and choose to update the existing application instead of creating a new one.

This keeps your workflow clean:

DevBox = cloud dev + build environment
App Launchpad = production runtime

8. Why DevBox + HiCyou is a Nice Combo

No need to manually craft Dockerfiles or Kubernetes manifests.
You get a consistent, reproducible cloud dev environment.
Combined with Supabase (DB + Auth), Cloudflare R2 (storage), and ClawCloud (runtime), you can run a fully functional, modern SaaS-style link directory with very low or near-zero early-stage cost.
Perfect for indie makers and small teams who want something simple, scalable, and maintainable.

HiCyou Demo : https://hicyou.com