I'm currently building a voice-activated shopping reminder app called Grabbit, and I'm running into several deployment and reliability issues on Vercel that are making it difficult to move forward.
I need help understanding and resolving the following:
⚙️ Technical Issues
- Deployment Conflicts & Overwrites
- When attempting to test minor changes (e.g. adjusting geofencing alerts), the Vercel deployment sometimes overwrites or resets significant parts of my app.
- A recent incident caused me to lose nearly two weeks of code because the bot/AI assistant tried to "fix" a bug and redesigned the app instead.
- App Behavior Not Matching Deployed Site
- The version that’s currently deployed and working does not match the versions I see during preview or edit mode.
- I have trouble accessing the exact code running in production through the Vercel dashboard.
- Alert System Not Triggering on Device
- While debug tools confirm that location and store detection work correctly, alerts (buzz/sound notifications) don’t actually trigger on my phone.
- Adding buzz or sound effects to fix this broke functionality completely at one point.
- Confusing File Structure in Vercel
- Inside the
/appfolder are several subfolders. When I open them in Vercel, the code does not update visually, making it hard to back up or understand what’s deployed. - I’m not confident I know how to safely copy/export the entire current state.
What I’ve Tried
- I’ve asked the bot to “restore” the working version, but each time it seems to result in a different version being deployed or rebuilt.
- I exported the live Vercel site’s HTML to try and rebuild manually—but the behavior doesn’t match even with the same files.
🛠 What I Need Help With
- How to safely back up the currently deployed version of the PWA (all folders/files).
- Best practice for editing/test deploying without overwriting the working version.
- How to fix geofence-triggered alerts so that they consistently buzz/sound on mobile.
- Clarification on file structure in Vercel – which folder is actually live and how to read/update it confidently.
🙏 Final Notes
I'm relatively new to Vercel and PWA deployment. I’m working really hard on this app and just need some guidance to regain control over my project. Any support—step-by-step, tutorials, advice, or mentorship—would mean a lot. I do not code and completely Illiiterate in that regard. (maybe an issue, not going to lie)
I just want to get back to here and fix the alert bug in my v0. https://v0-new-project-u21l1u1b27g.vercel.app/
Thanks in advance for your time and help.
—Rob Creator of Grabbit
