title: Deploying Rails App to Heroku Keeps Crashing
body: <p>This answer seems to have been answered in various ways, but none that seemed to fit my exact issue.  I am using the app from RailsApps <a href="https://github.com/RailsApps/rails-devise-pundit" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/RailsApps/rails-devise-pundit</a> </p>
  
  <p>The app works perfectly on my local Ubuntu 14.04 machine, but when I deploy it to Heroku, I get an 'application error' on the page my app should have been started.  I ran 'heroku logs' but can't be sure what the exact issue is.  Below is my log as well as my Gem file.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Here is My Log</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>2014-07-23T07:01:02.819470+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/activesupport-4.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:241:in `load'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819467+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/activesupport-4.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:241:in `block in load'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819544+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:347:in `block in each_strongly_connected_component'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819471+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/engine.rb:648:in `block in load_config_initializer'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819499+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:427:in `each_strongly_connected_component_from'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819476+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/engine.rb:647:in `load_config_initializer'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819485+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/initializable.rb:30:in `instance_exec'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819488+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/initializable.rb:30:in `run'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819497+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:418:in `block (2 levels) in each_strongly_connected_component_from'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819550+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:345:in `call'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819553+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:224:in `tsort_each'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819551+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:345:in `each_strongly_connected_component'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819554+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:205:in `tsort_each'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819559+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/application.rb:300:in `initialize!'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819560+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/config/environment.rb:5:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819564+00:00 app[web.1]:    from config.ru:4:in `require'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819569+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-1.5.2/lib/rack/builder.rb:55:in `instance_eval'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819570+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-1.5.2/lib/rack/builder.rb:55:in `initialize'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819574+00:00 app[web.1]:    from config.ru:1:in `new'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819566+00:00 app[web.1]:    from config.ru:4:in `block in &lt;main&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819511+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:411:in `each_strongly_connected_component_from'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819482+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/engine.rb:611:in `each'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819580+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/lib/unicorn.rb:48:in `block in builder'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819583+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/lib/unicorn/http_server.rb:764:in `call'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.
  819575+00:00 app[web.1]:        from config.ru:1:in `&lt;main&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819584+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/lib/unicorn/http_server.rb:764:in `build_app!'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819589+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/bin/unicorn:126:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819612+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/bin/unicorn:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819578+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/lib/unicorn.rb:48:in `eval'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819557+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/initializable.rb:54:in `run_initializers'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819494+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:348:in `block (2 levels) in each_strongly_connected_component'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819546+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:345:in `each'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819587+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/lib/unicorn/http_server.rb:137:in `start'
  2014-07-23T07:01:02.819611+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/bin/unicorn:23:in `load'
  2014-07-23T07:01:04.031160+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to crashed
  2014-07-23T07:01:04.733648+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=cfilink.herokuapp.com request_id=86caffee-16f4-4f06-a6d8-7930d96c7135 fwd="54.237.152.106" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
  2014-07-23T07:01:04.020673+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited with status 1
  2014-07-23T07:01:00.263828+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Starting process with command `bundle exec unicorn -p 5019 -c ./config/unicorn.rb`
  2014-07-23T07:01:17.938391+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=cfilink.herokuapp.com request_id=96c1bf22-04ca-408b-b2c5-6a6282763eb2 fwd="99.169.168.250" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
  2014-07-23T07:01:21.119579+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=cfilink.herokuapp.com request_id=14e4d82e-c91f-49eb-bd81-d689e6f0f75a fwd="99.169.168.250" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
  2014-07-23T07:01:22.528876+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=cfilink.herokuapp.com request_id=343a0401-da9f-4ec6-99a1-70489632e40b fwd="99.169.168.250" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
  2014-07-23T07:01:24.008236+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=cfilink.herokuapp.com request_id=47981f94-e284-4b18-bec2-282f656e5289 fwd="99.169.168.250" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
  2014-07-23T07:01:25.044701+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=cfilink.herokuapp.co
  m request_id=56593500-3931-4e5f-a44d-1b65879dff76 fwd="99.169.168.250" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
  2014-07-23T07:01:27.515189+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=cfilink.herokuapp.com request_id=d7b8d1b8-272a-4f05-b962-88e74fb27647 fwd="99.169.168.250" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
  2014-07-23T07:01:29.495853+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=cfilink.herokuapp.com request_id=15f0a28d-9d90-4114-bdc2-86ced1502757 fwd="99.169.168.250" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
  2014-07-23T07:01:52.893456+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=cfilink.herokuapp.com request_id=08f79ef3-8a34-4098-856e-6a841bbc9214 fwd="99.169.168.250" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
  2014-07-23T07:08:27.346505+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from crashed to starting
  2014-07-23T07:08:32.470674+00:00 app[web.1]: I, [2014-07-23T07:08:32.470553 #2]  INFO -- : Refreshing Gem list
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337873+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/config/initializers/devise.rb:13:in `block in &lt;top (required)&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337880+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/activesupport-4.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:241:in `load'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337886+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/activesupport-4.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:241:in `load'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337893+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/engine.rb:647:in `load_config_initializer'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337883+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/activesupport-4.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:232:in `load_dependency'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337888+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/engine.rb:648:in `block in load_config_initializer'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337922+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:348:in `block (2 levels) in each_strongly_connected_component'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337926+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:417:in `block in each_strongly_connected_component_from'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337865+00:00 app[web.1]: /app/config/initializers/devise.rb:13:in `+': no implicit conversion of nil into String (TypeError)
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337889+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/activesupport-4.1.4/lib/active_support/notifications.rb:161:in `instrument'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337894+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/engine.rb:612:in `block (2 levels) in &lt;class:Engine&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337918+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:226:in `block in tsort_each'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337876+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/config/initializers/devise.rb:3:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337881+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/activesupport-4.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:241:in `block in load'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337940+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:345:in `call'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337874+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/devise-3.2.4/lib/devise.rb:288:in `setup'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337898+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/engine.rb:611:in `each'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337929+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/initializable.rb:44:in `tsort_each_child'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337932+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:411:in `call'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337900+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/engine.rb:611:in `block in &lt;class:Engine&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337905+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/ra
  ilties-4.1.4/lib/rails/initializable.rb:30:in `run'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337908+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/initializable.rb:55:in `block in run_initializers'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337923+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:418:in `block (2 levels) in each_strongly_connected_component_from'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337935+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:347:in `block in each_strongly_connected_component'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337936+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:345:in `each'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337903+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/initializable.rb:30:in `instance_exec'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337925+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:427:in `each_strongly_connected_component_from'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337927+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/initializable.rb:44:in `each'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337953+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/initializable.rb:54:in `run_initializers'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337934+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:411:in `each_strongly_connected_component_from'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337946+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:224:in `tsort_each'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337943+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:345:in `each_strongly_connected_component'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337979+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-1.5.2/lib/rack/builder.rb:55:in `instance_eval'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337954+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/railties-4.1.4/lib/rails/application.rb:300:in `initialize!'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337974+00:00 app[web.1]:    from config.ru:4:in `require'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337982+00:00 app[web.1]:    from config.ru:1:in `new'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337972+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/config/environment.rb:5:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337950+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/tsort.rb:205:in `tsort_each'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337978+00:00 app[web.1]:    from config.ru:4:in `block in &lt;main&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337984+00:00 app[web.1]:    from config.ru:1:in `&lt;main&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337981+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-1.5.2/lib/rack/builder.rb:55:in `initialize'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337986+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/lib/unicorn.rb:48:in `block in builder'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337985+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/lib/unicorn.rb:48:in `eval'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337988+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/lib/unicorn/http_server.rb:764:in `call'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337996+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/bin/unicorn:23:in `load'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337991+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/lib/unicorn/http_server.rb:764:in `build_app!'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337993+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/lib/unicorn/http_server.rb:137:in `start'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337994+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/unicorn-4.8.3/bin/unicorn:126:in `&lt;top (required)&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:08:33.337997+00:00 app[web.1]:    from /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/bin/unicorn:23:in `&lt;main&gt;'
  2014-07-23T07:08:34.476119+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to crashed
  2014-07-23T07:08:30.884736+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Starting process with command `bundle exec unicorn -p 40495 -c ./config/unicorn.rb`
  2014-07-23T07:08:34.441069+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited with status 1
  2014-07-23T07:12:52.276241+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=cfilink.herokuapp.com request_id=74ecf2fe-bcc2-4beb-9d0c-09be5181e4d8 fwd="99.169.168.250" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>And here is my Gem File</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>source 'https://rubygems.org'
  ruby '2.1.2'
  gem 'rails', '4.1.4'
  gem 'sass-rails', '~&gt; 4.0.3'
  gem 'uglifier', '&gt;= 1.3.0'
  gem 'coffee-rails', '~&gt; 4.0.0'
  gem 'jquery-rails'
  gem 'turbolinks'
  gem 'jbuilder', '~&gt; 2.0'
  gem 'sdoc', '~&gt; 0.4.0',          group: :doc
  gem 'spring',        group: :development
  gem 'bootstrap-sass'
  gem 'devise', '~&gt; 3.2.4'
  gem 'devise_invitable'
  gem 'pg'
  gem 'pundit'
  gem 'unicorn'
  gem 'unicorn-rails'
  gem 'figaro'
  gem 'rails_12factor', '~&gt; 0.0.2'
  group :development do
    gem 'better_errors'
    gem 'binding_of_caller', :platforms=&gt;[:mri_21]
    gem 'guard-bundler'
    gem 'guard-rails'
    gem 'guard-rspec'
    gem 'hub', :require=&gt;nil
    gem 'quiet_assets'
    gem 'rails_layout'
    gem 'rb-fchange', :require=&gt;false
    gem 'rb-fsevent', :require=&gt;false
    gem 'rb-inotify', :require=&gt;false
  end
  group :development, :test do
    gem 'factory_girl_rails'
    gem 'rspec-rails'
  end
  group :test do
    gem 'capybara'
    gem 'database_cleaner'
    gem 'faker'
    gem 'launchy'
    gem 'selenium-webdriver'
  end
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>My secrets.yml file</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>development:
    admin_name: First User
    admin_email: user@example.com
    admin_password: changeme
    email_provider_username: &lt;%= ENV["GMAIL_USERNAME"] %&gt;
    email_provider_password: &lt;%= ENV["GMAIL_PASSWORD"] %&gt;
    domain_name: example.com
    secret_key_base: 7032833bb8e9bf8f3d46ad9b886aca9bb41a0d92adb3c1080570e24bdb31459d240f58721d7681b2486d5d9d352a608feb434be880c507155e719a9dfe678b19
  
  test:
    domain_name: example.com
    secret_key_base: 0de0958bbdd2608a2e1a4378660d4ec4f50b2df23cd85f5508c5bb1c821cb129bc9f799421deb622950c0e3ba7e344d8ee3fe693b8b162aa4b685907ff8df13e
  
  # Do not keep production secrets in the repository,
  # instead read values from the environment.
  production:
    admin_name: &lt;%= ENV["ADMIN_NAME"] %&gt;
    admin_email: &lt;%= ENV["ADMIN_EMAIL"] %&gt;
    admin_password: &lt;%= ENV["ADMIN_PASSWORD"] %&gt;
    email_provider_username: &lt;%= ENV["GMAIL_USERNAME"] %&gt;
    email_provider_password: &lt;%= ENV["GMAIL_PASSWORD"] %&gt;
    domain_name: &lt;%= ENV["DOMAIN_NAME"] %&gt;
    secret_key_base: &lt;%= ENV["SECRET_KEY_BASE"] %&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>My application.yml file (figaro gem)</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>GMAIL_USERNAME: myusername@gmail.com
  GMAIL_PASSWORD: mypassword
  DOMAIN_NAME: studiorooster.com
  </code></pre>