If you want a fast answer, use this security checklist for indie hackers before every launch: remove exposed secrets, lock down admin access, verify data permissions, test auth flows, and scan for debug routes. Those five checks catch most production issues in small apps. They are also the failures that appear most often when a solo builder ships quickly.
Security checklist for indie hackers
Start with the checks that can turn into an incident on day one. You are looking for simple, high-impact failures, not theoretical edge cases. If any item below fails, pause the release and fix it first.
- exposed secrets in client bundles, public repos, logs, or preview deployments
- admin access reachable without a strong role check on every request
- data permissions that trust the browser instead of server-side rules
- password reset and sign-in flows that reveal user existence or skip expiry
- debug routes left enabled, including test webhooks, seed endpoints, or verbose errors
Most small-team incidents do not start with advanced exploitation. They start with leftovers from a rushed build, a copied example, or a staging shortcut that survived into production. That is why a short launch review beats a long policy document.
If you want a broader release process around these checks, pair this list with practical launch checks.
Check secrets and access
Small apps leak more often through configuration than code. A token in a public variable, a test route that bypasses auth, or an admin page protected only in the UI is enough to create a real incident.
When you review access, check the server path, not just the screen. Every privileged action should enforce least privilege on the backend. Assume a user can call your endpoint directly with crafted requests, skipped UI steps, or a stolen session.
A quick local pass can catch obvious exposure:
git grep -nE 'sk_live_|AKIA|BEGIN (RSA|PRIVATE) KEY'
git grep -nE 'NEXT_PUBLIC_.*(SECRET|TOKEN|KEY)'
git grep -nE 'console\.log\(|debug=1|/admin|/internal'
npm run build
npm start &
curl -I http://localhost:3000/.env
curl -I http://localhost:3000/api/debug
curl -I http://localhost:3000/adminIf .env, /admin, or an internal route returns 200 or 302 without a proper challenge, you have a release blocker. Also review public env vars carefully. Anything marked public is readable in the browser, even if build tooling makes it feel hidden.
Keep server-only secrets off the client, scope API keys to the minimum service, and rotate anything that touched a preview build. Shared demos, preview logs, and temporary screenshots often preserve sensitive values longer than teams expect.
Finally, check admin routes for every method, not only GET requests. It is common to protect page rendering but forget the POST, PATCH, or webhook endpoint that actually changes data.
Review data flows
Most serious leaks come from bad authorization on reads and writes. If your app stores user content, verify who can list records, fetch single records, upload files, export data, and trigger background jobs.
Check database rules line by line. In small products, a common bug is allowing updates for the record owner while forgetting to protect reads, deletes, exports, or related rows. If you rely on a hosted database, validate row level security or equivalent rules against anonymous, normal, and elevated roles.
Storage deserves the same review. Public buckets, long-lived signed upload URLs, and file names based on guessable IDs can expose invoices, private images, or generated reports. Test with a second account and with no account at all. If a URL can be shared forever, treat it as public.
Also inspect outbound data. Webhooks, analytics events, and error logs often carry tokens, emails, raw prompts, or internal identifiers. Mask sensitive fields before logging and trim responses before sending them to third-party services.
Do not ignore backups, exports, and test content. Old dumps and seeded users often contain staging data with broad permissions and unrealistic shortcuts. Those shortcuts can accidentally become your real production path.
Ship with one final pass
Before launch, run a short review in the same order every time. A repeatable sequence keeps the process fast and reduces the chance that you skip a high-risk check when you are tired.
- Build a production-like deploy and test as anonymous, standard, and admin users.
- Re-run secret searches and confirm no debug endpoints or admin routes are reachable.
- Exercise sign up, login, logout, invite, and password reset with expired, reused, and tampered tokens.
- Try simple abuse cases, such as rapid requests, oversized uploads, and repeated webhook delivery. Add rate limits where impact is obvious.
- Review logs, traces, and error pages for tokens, emails, stack traces, or internal IDs.
- Run an automated scan, then compare the findings with your manual review. Automation catches exposed files and unsafe defaults. Human review catches permission bugs and account abuse.
If you build quickly with AI tools, compare your release against this vibe coding checklist. It helps catch the misses that appear after copied patterns, generated auth code, and fast refactors.
Most launch-day security failures are not exotic. They come from a public secret, a missing permission rule, or an endpoint nobody thought attackers would try. A short, repeatable review beats a long document. Run the same checks every time, and your app stays much harder to break.
Faq
What should i check first before launch?
Start with anything that creates immediate impact if exposed: secrets, admin endpoints, authentication flows, and data permissions. Those four areas cause most real incidents in small apps. If a token is public or a route works without proper authorization, stop the release and fix that before anything else.
How often should a solo founder run a security review?
Run a short review before every production release, not only before the first launch. Small apps change quickly, and a safe setup can become unsafe after a single refactor, package update, or new integration. A 15 to 30 minute final pass is usually enough for routine releases.
Can automated scanning replace manual checks?
No. Automated scanning is excellent for finding exposed files, leaked secrets, missing headers, and obvious route exposure. It will not reliably understand business logic, account boundaries, or whether one user can access another user's data. Use both, with automation first and manual review second.
If you want a quick pre-launch review, AISHIPSAFE can start with a security scan and follow with deep scan for a wider pass on secrets, auth, and exposed routes.