Why I Built Leaper: Solving My Own Deployment Frustrations

It was 2 AM, and I was staring at yet another deployment error. My Astro site worked perfectly locally, but getting it to production on AWS was turning into a nightmare. The CloudFront distribution was serving stale content, the S3 bucket permissions were wrong, and I'd already burned 4 hours on what should have been a simple deployment.

Sound familiar?

The Problem: Deployment Groundhog Day

Here's the thing: I'd deployed applications to AWS dozens of times before. I knew how S3 worked. I understood CloudFront. I'd configured GitHub Actions workflows many times. But every time I started a new project, I found myself:

1. Googling "deploy [framework] to [cloud provider]"
2. Reading through 10 different blog posts with conflicting advice
3. Piecing together a configuration from multiple sources
4. Debugging why it didn't work
5. Finally getting it working after 4-8 hours
6. Forgetting the exact configuration 6 months later
7. Repeating the entire process

The "Aha" Moment

The breaking point came when I was helping a friend deploy their Next.js app to Vercel. They asked me, "What's the best way to do this?" I pulled up my notes from a previous project, sent them the configuration, and they were deployed in 10 minutes.

That's when it hit me: What if I just collected all these configurations in one place?

Not tutorials. Not "Hello World" examples. But actual, production-ready configurations that you could copy, paste, and deploy.

What Makes Leaper Different

1. It's What I Actually Use

Every blueprint on Leaper is based on configurations I've used in production. These aren't theoretical examples—they're battle-tested setups that have handled real traffic, real users, and real edge cases.

2. No Fluff, Just Config

I got tired of blog posts that spend 500 words explaining what AWS is before getting to the actual configuration. Leaper cuts straight to what you need: the files, the commands, and the gotchas.

3. Real Cost Information

One of my biggest frustrations was deploying something only to get a surprise $200 bill at the end of the month. Every Leaper blueprint includes actual pricing information so you know what you're getting into.

4. Multiple Options

There's no "one size fits all" in deployment. Sometimes you want the simplicity of Vercel. Sometimes you need the control of AWS. Sometimes you're optimizing for cost with Hetzner. Leaper shows you all the options.

The Numbers

Since launching Leaper, I've documented:

• 53 deployment blueprints across 7 frameworks and 7 cloud providers
• 3 deployment tools (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Terraform)
• Hundreds of hours of deployment experience distilled into copy-paste configs

And I'm just getting started.

What's Next

Leaper is solving my own problem, but I'm building it for everyone who's ever wasted an evening fighting with deployment configurations. Here's what's coming:

• More framework combinations (Remix, SolidJS, Qwik)
• Database deployment guides
• Monitoring and observability setups
• Cost optimization strategies
• Multi-region deployment patterns

Why I'm Sharing This

I could have kept these configurations to myself. But here's the truth: deployment should be boring.

The exciting part of software development is building features, solving user problems, and creating value. Deployment is infrastructure—it should be reliable, predictable, and take as little time as possible.

Try It Yourself

Browse the deployment blueprints, pick your stack, and deploy in minutes instead of hours.

And if you have feedback, suggestions, or just want to share your deployment horror stories, I'd love to hear from you.

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Happy deploying! 🚀

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