Friday, 4 September 2026
Mission statement
“Revolut Video Collective empowers creators to craft compelling, innovative stories that connect, inspire, and transform. We harness the power of video to amplify diverse voices, foster collaboration, and drive meaningful impact in the digital world.”
Recipe generator
Here’s a step-by-step guide to deploy your Flask recipe generator to Render for free public access. Render is a modern cloud platform that supports Flask apps with automatic HTTPS and scaling.
Step 1: Prepare Your App for Render
1. Update requirements.txt
Ensure your requirements.txt includes all dependencies, including the spaCy model:
textflask==3.0.0
spacy==3.7.2
transformers==4.36.2
torch==2.1.0
python-dotenv==1.0.0
en-core-web-sm @ https://github.com/explosion/spacy-models/releases/download/en_core_web_sm-3.7.0/en_core_web_sm-3.7.0-py3-none-any.whl
2. Create a render.yaml File
Render uses a render.yaml file to configure your web service. Create this file in your project root:
render.yaml
yamlservices:
- type: web
name: recipe-generator
env: python
buildCommand: pip install -r requirements.txt
startCommand: gunicorn app:app
envVars:
- key: PYTHON_VERSION
value: 3.10.0
3. Update app.py for Production
Ensure your app.py is production-ready. Add this at the bottom:
pythonif __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=5000)
4. Test Locally
Run your app locally to confirm everything works:
bashpython app.py
Visit http://127.0.0.1:5000 to test.
Step 2: Deploy to Render
1. Sign Up for Render
Go to Render and sign up for a free account.
2. Connect Your GitHub Repository
Click “New +” > “Web Service” in the Render dashboard.
Connect your GitHub account and select your recipe_generator repository.
Choose the branch (e.g., main).
3. Configure the Web Service
Name: recipe-generator (or any name you prefer).
Region: Select the closest region to your users (e.g., Oregon (US West)).
Branch: Select the branch you want to deploy (e.g., main).
Root Directory: Leave blank (or specify if your project is in a subfolder).
Build Command:bashpip install -r requirements.txt
python -m spacy download en_core_web_sm
Start Command:bashgunicorn app:app
Environment: Select Python 3.10.
Auto-Deploy: Enable to automatically redeploy when you push changes.
4. Add Environment Variables (Optional)
If your app uses environment variables (e.g., API keys), add them in the “Environment” section.
5. Deploy the App
Click “Create Web Service”. Render will:
Build your app.
Install dependencies.
Start the web service.
Step 3: Access Your Deployed App
Once deployment is complete, Render will provide a public URL (e.g., https://recipe-generator.onrender.com).
Click the URL to visit your live app.
Step 4: Update Your App
To update your app:
Push changes to your GitHub repository.
Render will automatically redeploy your app (if auto-deploy is enabled).
Monitor the deployment logs in the Render dashboard.
Troubleshooting
1. Build Failures
Check the “Build Logs” in the Render dashboard for errors.
Common issues:
Missing dependencies in requirements.txt.
Incorrect startCommand (e.g., gunicorn app:app instead of gunicorn app:app).
2. App Crashes
Check the “Logs” tab in the Render dashboard for runtime errors.
Ensure your app.py is error-free and uses app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=5000).
3. Static Files Not Loading
Render serves static files automatically if they are in the static folder.
Ensure your static/style.css and other static files are correctly linked in your HTML templates.
Final Notes
Your app is now live at https://recipe-generator.onrender.com (or your custom URL).
The free tier includes:
512 MB RAM.
750 free build minutes/month.
Automatic HTTPS.
For higher traffic, consider upgrading to a paid plan.
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