Build Journal
Deploy Fix: Raised Build Heap Ceiling for Stability — September 6, 2026
I fixed a critical deploy issue by raising the build heap ceiling, improving stability for my spatial AI platform. Here's the journey and what I learned.
What shipped
- Heap Ceiling Increased — Raised build heap ceiling from 3072 MB to 8192 MB to prevent OOM errors.
- Stability Restored — Resolved issues causing dead homepages during deploys.
- Infrastructure Upgrade — Upsized memory box to 32GB to support new build requirements.
Today, I tackled a critical issue that had been plaguing my deploy process: out-of-memory (OOM) errors. In a focused hour of work, I raised the build heap ceiling from 3072 MB to 8192 MB, which finally addressed the OOM-aborting builds that had been leaving corrupt .next files. This fix was essential for ensuring my spatial AI platform remains stable and operational, particularly as I scale towards my vision of a one-man-show company with a billion-dollar valuation.
The issue first reared its ugly head during a routine deploy last week. I had noticed that after pushing new code, the application would intermittently fail to load properly, serving dead homepages to users. This wasn't just a minor inconvenience; it was a significant barrier to providing a seamless experience on my agentic web portal. Users expect reliability, and seeing broken pages was not an option. After some investigation, I traced the problem back to a memory limitation that was causing the build process to abort.
I spent a considerable amount of time diagnosing the issue, combing through logs and trying to pinpoint the exact moment things went wrong. The logs were filled with 'out of memory' errors, which led me to realize that my build environment was insufficient for the growing complexity of the codebase. I knew I needed to up the heap ceiling to accommodate the demands of my application. By increasing the ceiling from 3072 MB to 8192 MB, I hoped to provide enough headroom for the build process to complete without crashing.
This fix required a bit of infrastructure tweaking. I had to upsize the box to 32GB total memory to accommodate the new heap ceiling. The decision to increase resources wasn’t made lightly; I had to weigh the cost of additional memory against the potential downtime caused by frequent OOM errors. Ultimately, I concluded that the investment in stability was worth it. After making the adjustments, I redeployed the application and monitored its performance closely.
The results were promising. The deploy process completed successfully without any hiccups, and the application ran smoothly afterward. No more dead homepages. It felt good to see that immediate impact from my work. This experience reinforced my understanding of the importance of infrastructure in supporting the applications I build. It’s not just about writing code; it’s about ensuring that the environment can handle that code effectively.
Reflecting on this as a solo builder, I can’t help but appreciate how much I’ve learned from these challenges. Working with AI tools like Claude Code in VS Code has allowed me to streamline many aspects of development, but there are still fundamental issues that require my direct attention. The balance between using AI assistance and maintaining a hands-on approach is delicate, but it’s crucial for building a solid foundation for my vision.
As I continue building toward my ambitious goal, I realize that these technical hurdles are just stepping stones. Each fix not only stabilizes the platform but also enhances my understanding of how to scale effectively. The lessons learned from today’s fix will inform my future decisions, particularly as I aim to optimize performance on the agentic web and deliver a superior user experience.
In the grand scheme, this fix is a small but necessary part of the journey. Every commit, every bug fix, and every moment spent troubleshooting is a step closer to my goal of a one-man-show company capable of achieving a billion-dollar valuation. I’m excited about what lies ahead and remain committed to building the best spatial AI portal platform I can. Today was a reminder that even the smallest fixes can have a significant impact, and I’m looking forward to tackling the next challenge head-on.