# Deploy a Bolt.new app with Vercel Drop

**Author:** Ben Sabic

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[Bolt.new](https://bolt.new/) by StackBlitz builds full web apps from prompts, right in your browser, and lets you download the result as a `.zip` file. [Vercel Drop](https://vercel.com/drop) deploys that `.zip` by dragging it into your browser, with no Git, Vercel CLI, or local setup. Bolt projects are standard framework projects, such as [Vite](https://vercel.com/docs/frameworks/frontend/vite) or [Next.js](https://nextjs.org/), which Vercel detects and builds for you. Together, they take you from a prompt to a live production URL you can share with anyone.

In this guide, you'll export your Bolt project as a `.zip`, deploy it to Vercel with Vercel Drop, configure environment variables your app needs, and set up automatic deployments if you keep iterating.

## Prerequisites

- A [Bolt.new](https://bolt.new/) project.
  
- A [Vercel account](https://vercel.com/signup). The free Hobby plan works.
  

## Steps

### 1\. Export your project from Bolt

In Bolt, open your project and click the project title in the top left of your screen. Click **Export**, then **Download**. Bolt bundles your project, and your browser downloads a `.zip` file with the source code.

### 2\. Drop the file into Vercel

Go to [vercel.com/drop](https://vercel.com/drop) and drag the `.zip` onto the page. You can also select a **file** to upload instead of dragging. There's no need to unzip the export first, because Vercel Drop accepts files, folders, and `.zip` archives.

### 3\. Name your project and deploy

Choose the Vercel team to deploy to, enter a project name, and select **Deploy**. Vercel creates a new project, detects your framework, runs the build, and publishes it straight to production. When the deployment finishes, you get a live URL for your app.

### 4\. Add environment variables (if your app uses them)

Bolt doesn't include the values from its Secrets panel in the export, so any API keys or service URLs your app relies on are missing after deployment. To add them, open your [project’s environment variables page](https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%5Bproject%5D%2Fsettings%2Fenvironment-variables) and recreate each value. Redeploy for the changes to take effect.

## Troubleshooting

### The build fails

Open the deployment on the Vercel dashboard and check the build logs. A common cause is a missing environment variable that your app reads at build time. Add it under [your project’s environment variables](https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%5Bproject%5D%2Fsettings%2Fenvironment-variables).

### The app deploys but features don't work

Frontend-only features work immediately, but anything that calls an external service needs its environment variables configured first. Recreate the values from Bolt's Secrets panel as described in step 4.

## Updating your app after changes

Each drop creates a new Vercel project, so re-exporting from Bolt and dropping again gives you a new project with a new URL. For ongoing development, use Bolt's GitHub integration to push your project to a repository, then [connect the repository to Vercel](https://vercel.com/docs/git). After that, every push deploys automatically, and your URL stays the same.

## Resources and next steps

- Read the [Vercel Drop documentation](https://vercel.com/docs/drop) for limitations and details.
  
- [Deploy from Git](https://vercel.com/docs/git) for automatic deployments on every push.
  
- [Environment variables](https://vercel.com/docs/environment-variables) to manage secrets across environments.
  
- [Managing deployments](https://vercel.com/docs/deployments/managing-deployments) to redeploy, inspect, and promote.

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