Next.js Standalone Start

npm run build automatically prepares standalone assets via postbuild (.next/static and public are copied into .next/standalone).

Database migrations

If you connect the project to a fresh or different Postgres database, run the Payload migrations before building or starting the standalone server.

Check migration status:

npm run migrate:status

Apply all pending migrations:

npm run migrate

Create a new migration after schema/config changes:

npm run migrate:create your-migration-name

Notes:

• npm run dev can be more forgiving during development, but npm run standalone expects the Payload tables to exist.
• /admin requires the Payload auth tables such as users to exist.
• Run migrations against the same database that is configured in DATABASE_URL.

1) Build

After the database schema exists, build the app:

npm run build

2) Start the standalone server

npm run standalone

Recommended order for a fresh database:

npm run migrate
npm run build
npm run standalone

Data source

Content is loaded directly from the configured Postgres database via Payload queries.