Deploying a Project from the CLI

Use this guide to set up and deploy a Vercel project entirely from the CLI. You'll link your local project, pull environment variables, test locally, deploy a preview, and go live with a custom domain.

Use this block when you already know what you're doing and want the full command sequence. Use the steps below for context and checks.

# 1. Link your local directory to a Vercel project
vercel link
 
# 2. Pull environment variables for local development
vercel env pull .env.local
 
# 3. Develop locally (use your framework's dev command, or vercel dev)
vercel env run -- npm run dev
 
# 4. Deploy a preview
vercel deploy
 
# 5. Verify the preview
vercel curl / --deployment <preview-url>
vercel logs --deployment <preview-deployment-id> --level error
 
# 6. Deploy to production
vercel deploy --prod
 
# 7. Add a custom domain (if needed)
vercel domains add example.com <project-name>
vercel domains inspect example.com
 
# 8. Confirm production is live
vercel curl / --deployment <production-url>
vercel logs --environment production --level error --since 5m

Connect your local directory to an existing Vercel project. If the project doesn't exist yet on Vercel, this command creates it:

vercel link

This creates a .vercel directory in your project with the project and org configuration. The command is interactive and will prompt you to select your team and project.

For CI/CD or non-interactive environments, use the --yes flag:

vercel link --yes

Download your project's environment variables so you can use them during local development:

vercel env pull .env.local

This writes development environment variables to .env.local. If you need environment variables for a different target:

vercel env pull --environment=preview

To list all configured environment variables without downloading them:

vercel env ls

Start your local development server. If your framework has its own dev command (like next dev or vite dev), use that directly since it provides native support for your framework's features.

If you need to test Vercel-specific features like Vercel Functions or Middleware locally:

vercel dev

You can also run your framework's dev command with Vercel environment variables injected:

vercel env run -- npm run dev

This fetches environment variables from your linked project and passes them to your dev command without writing them to a file.

When you're ready to test your changes in a production-like environment, create a preview deployment:

vercel deploy

This outputs a preview URL. Preview deployments use your preview environment variables and are useful for testing before going live.

If you want to see the build logs while deploying:

vercel deploy --logs

Test the preview deployment to make sure everything works. Use vercel curl to hit specific routes through deployment protection:

vercel curl / --deployment <preview-url>

Check for errors in the preview deployment's logs:

vercel logs --deployment <preview-deployment-id> --level error

Once the preview looks good, deploy to production:

vercel deploy --prod

This builds and deploys your project to the production environment, and the deployment gets assigned to your production domain automatically.

If you haven't configured a custom domain yet, add one:

vercel domains add example.com <project-name>

To see all domains currently configured:

vercel domains ls

After adding a domain, Vercel automatically provisions an SSL certificate. You'll need to update your DNS records to point to Vercel. Use vercel domains inspect to see the required DNS configuration:

vercel domains inspect example.com

Verify your production deployment is serving traffic correctly:

vercel curl / --deployment <production-url>

Check production logs for any unexpected errors:

vercel logs --environment production --level error --since 5m

After the initial setup, your day-to-day workflow simplifies to:

1. Make changes locally
2. Deploy a preview: vercel deploy
3. Verify the preview
4. Ship to production: vercel deploy --prod

If you connect a Git repository, Vercel also creates preview deployments automatically for every push and pull request.

• vercel link
• vercel env
• vercel deploy
• vercel domains
• Vercel CLI overview