docs(deploy): stop documenting API_ORIGIN as required

The swarm stack still hard-failed on an unset API_ORIGIN, and both the env
template and the README told the reader to pin it — the exact habit the derived
origin was meant to end. Make it an optional override everywhere, and say that
WEB_ORIGIN is now a list.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

README.md

@@ -96,7 +96,14 @@ NEXT_PUBLIC_API_ORIGIN=http://localhost:3001
 ```
 
 The API loads `DATABASE_URL`, `SESSION_SECRET`, `WEB_ORIGIN`, and optional
-`PORT` (default `3001`). The web app only needs `NEXT_PUBLIC_API_ORIGIN`.
+`PORT` (default `3001`). `WEB_ORIGIN` is comma-separated — list every origin the
+app is reached under, or credentialed fetches from the missing ones fail CORS.
+
+The web app needs no API URL of its own: the browser derives it from the page it
+loaded (same host on port `3001` over plain HTTP, or the same-origin `/api` path
+behind a TLS proxy). Set `NEXT_PUBLIC_API_ORIGIN` (dev) or `API_ORIGIN` (deploy,
+read at request time) only to override that — for instance when running the API
+on a non-default port.
 
 ### 3. Start MySQL
 

deploy/jorgecuadros-app.env.example

@@ -8,10 +8,21 @@
 APP_TAG=latest
 
 # --- Public URLs (what the end user's BROWSER hits) ---------------------------
-# API_ORIGIN is injected into the web app at runtime and used for browser fetches
+# API_ORIGIN is OPTIONAL and normally left unset. The browser derives the API
-# + document download links, so it must be browser-reachable (not swarm-internal).
+# origin from the page it loaded (apps/web/src/lib/api.ts): same host on port
-# WEB_ORIGIN is the web app's own public origin; the API allows it via CORS.
+# 3001 over plain HTTP, or the same-origin /api path when the page is served
-API_ORIGIN=http://192.168.4.212:3001
+# over https by a TLS-terminating proxy that maps /api to the API. That is what
+# lets the same deployment move — tailnet, office LAN, demo domain — untouched.
+# Set it only when the API genuinely lives on a different host than the web app;
+# it is used for browser fetches AND document download links, so it must be
+# browser-reachable (never a swarm-internal name).
+#API_ORIGIN=http://192.168.4.212:3001
+#
+# WEB_ORIGIN is the list of public origins the web app is reached under; the API
+# allows them via CORS. COMMA-SEPARATED — one deployment is reachable under
+# several origins (LAN IP, tailnet name, demo domain) and a credentialed fetch
+# from an origin missing here gets no CORS headers and fails. A same-origin
+# setup (web + API behind one proxy) never hits CORS at all.
 WEB_ORIGIN=http://192.168.4.212:3000
 
 # Published ports on the swarm host.

deploy/jorgecuadros-app.stack.yml

@@ -92,8 +92,12 @@ services:
     labels:
       io.jorgecuadros.role: "web"
     environment:
-      # Public API URL the browser calls (injected at runtime, see layout.tsx).
+      # OPTIONAL override of the API URL the browser calls (injected at runtime,
-      API_ORIGIN: ${API_ORIGIN:?API_ORIGIN must be set}
+      # see layout.tsx). Leave it unset: the browser then derives the origin
+      # from the page it loaded — same host on port 3001 over plain HTTP, or
+      # /api behind a TLS-terminating proxy. Set it only when the API really
+      # lives on a different host than the web app.
+      API_ORIGIN: ${API_ORIGIN:-}
     ports:
       - target: 3000
         published: ${WEB_PORT:-3000}