Serverless
also: serverless function, serverless functions
A way of hosting your backend without managing a server. You upload small functions, and the host runs them only when needed, such as when a request comes in.
A hosting model (AWS Lambda, Vercel Functions, Cloudflare Workers) where the provider runs your code on demand in response to requests or events, scales it automatically, and usually bills per use. Servers still exist, but you don't manage them. Tradeoffs: time limits, cold starts, no lasting local disk.
Taking a taxi instead of owning a car. No maintenance or parking, and you pay per ride. But you can't leave your things in the back overnight.
Many AI-built apps deploy to serverless platforms like Vercel. Knowing the limits explains odd production bugs: tasks cut off after a few seconds, saved files that vanish, or a slow first request.
This won't work on serverless: the upload is saved to local disk, which doesn't persist between invocations. I'll store it in S3 instead.
We deploy to Vercel serverless functions. Make sure the export finishes within the time limit, or move it to a background job.
Thinking serverless means there are no servers. There are; the hosting company manages them and runs your code on them only when needed.