SETUP.md

Database Connection Setup Guide

Quick Connection Test

Visit: http://localhost:3000/api/health

This will show you:

• ✅ If environment variables are set correctly
• ✅ If the database connection is working
• ❌ Any specific errors preventing connection

Common Issues and Solutions

1. Missing Environment Variables

Error: "Missing Supabase environment variables"

Solution:

1. Check that .env.local exists in the project root
2. Ensure it contains:

   NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=your_supabase_project_url
   NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_DEFAULT_KEY=your_supabase_publishable_key
   

3. Restart your dev server after adding/changing environment variables

2. Database Tables Don't Exist

Error: "relation 'public.users' does not exist" or similar

Solution:

1. Go to your Supabase Dashboard → SQL Editor
2. Copy the contents of lib/supabase/migrations.sql
3. Paste and run it in the SQL Editor
4. This creates all necessary tables, indexes, and RLS policies

3. Wrong Environment Variable Names

Issue: You have DATABASE_URL and DIRECT_URL but the app needs:

• NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL (not DATABASE_URL)
• NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_DEFAULT_KEY (this is your anon/publishable key)

Solution:

• NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL = Your Supabase project URL (found in Settings → API)
• NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_DEFAULT_KEY = Your Supabase anon/publishable key (found in Settings → API)

Note: DATABASE_URL and DIRECT_URL are for direct PostgreSQL connections (like Prisma), not for the Supabase client library.

4. RLS (Row Level Security) Issues

Error: "new row violates row-level security policy"

Solution:

• The migrations.sql file sets up RLS policies
• Make sure you've run the complete migrations.sql file
• Check in Supabase Dashboard → Authentication → Policies that policies exist

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Get your Supabase credentials:

   • Go to https://supabase.com/dashboard
   • Select your project
   • Go to Settings → API
   • Copy:
     • Project URL → NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL
     • anon/public key → NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_DEFAULT_KEY

2. Create .env.local file:

   NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
   NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_DEFAULT_KEY=your-anon-key-here

3. Run database migrations:

   • Go to Supabase Dashboard → SQL Editor
   • Copy contents of lib/supabase/migrations.sql
   • Paste and execute

4. Test the connection:

   • Visit http://localhost:3000/api/health
   • Should show "Database connection successful"

5. Restart your dev server:

   npm run dev

Verifying Your Setup

After setup, you should be able to:

• ✅ Sign up new users
• ✅ Sign in with email/password
• ✅ Sign in with Google (if configured)
• ✅ Create properties
• ✅ Create and sign contracts

If any of these fail, check the browser console and the /api/health endpoint for specific error messages.