--- title: Can you deploy based on tags/releases on Vercel? description: Learn how to deploy based on tags/releases on Vercel. url: /kb/guide/can-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel canonical_url: "https://vercel.com/kb/guide/can-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel" published: 2025-11-03 last_updated: 2025-11-10 authors: Lee Robinson related: - /docs/concepts/projects/project-configuration/git-configuration install_vercel_plugin: npx plugins add vercel/vercel-plugin --- ## Related pages > **For AI agents:** Follow these links to understand how this page connects to the rest of the Vercel ecosystem. For the full cross-link map (inbound, outbound, prerequisites, and semantic neighbors), see the .graph.md link below. - [Deploying Git Repositories with Vercel](https://vercel.com/docs/git?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) — Vercel automatically deploys supported Git repositories on every branch push and when changes merge into the production - [Deploying to Vercel](https://vercel.com/docs/deployments?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) — Learn how to create and manage deployments on Vercel. - [Deploying a project from the CLI](https://vercel.com/docs/projects/deploy-from-cli?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) — Set up and deploy a Vercel project using the CLI, from linking to production. - [Managing Deployments](https://vercel.com/docs/deployments/managing-deployments?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) — Learn how to manage your current and previously deployed projects to Vercel through the dashboard. You can redeploy at a - [Deploying safely on Vercel without merge queues](https://vercel.com/blog/deploy-safely-on-vercel-without-merge-queues?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) - [Promoting Deployments](https://vercel.com/docs/deployments/promoting-a-deployment?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) — Learn how to promote deployments to production on Vercel. - [How can I use GitLab Pipelines with Vercel?](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/how-can-i-use-gitlab-pipelines-with-vercel?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) — Learn how to use GitLab Pipelines to deploy to Vercel including support for self-managed GitLab. - [How can I use Bitbucket Pipelines with Vercel?](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/how-can-i-use-bitbucket-pipelines-with-vercel?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) — Learn how to use Bitbucket Pipelines to deploy to Vercel including support for Bitbucket Data Center. - [How can I use CircleCI with Vercel?](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/how-can-i-use-circleci-with-vercel?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) — Learn how to use CircleCI to deploy to Vercel with custom CI/CD. - [How to use a non-default branch for production deployments on Vercel](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/can-i-use-a-non-default-branch-for-production?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) — Learn how to set a non-default branch for production on Vercel. Open the Production environment, change branch tracking, - [How can I use the Vercel CLI for custom workflows?](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/using-vercel-cli-for-custom-workflows?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=related) — You can use the Vercel CLI to deploy any application, including custom git providers and restricted source code. Full cross-link map for this page: [/kb/guide/can-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel.graph.md](/kb/guide/can-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel.graph.md?from=related&source_path=%2Fkb%2Fguide%2Fcan-you-deploy-based-on-tags-releases-on-vercel&source_site=vercel-kb&relationship=graph) If your team uses a trunk-based development workflow and you want to deploy using tags and releases, this guide will walk you through the steps to automate deployments via tags instead of branches. ## Versioned deployment Rather than using Vercel's auto-deployment feature to create a production deployment for each commit to the `main` branch, this strategy uses GitHub Actions and Vercel CLI to deploy using tags and releases. 1. Create a vercel.json file at the root of your project folder to add [Git configuration](https://vercel.com/docs/concepts/projects/project-configuration/git-configuration#). Set `git.deploymentEnabled` to false which will prevent auto-deployments from commits.. 2. Then, let’s add the required values from Vercel as [secrets](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/security-guides/encrypted-secrets) in GitHub 1. On your local computer or development environment, install the [Vercel CLI](https://vercel.com/cli) and run `vercel login` 2. Inside your project folder, run `vercel link` to create a new Vercel project or link to an existing one 3. Navigate to the generated `.vercel` folder, and open project.json to find the `projectID` and `orgId` 4. In GitHub, set `VERCEL_PROJECT_ID` to your `projectID` and `VERCEL_ORG_ID` to your `orgID` 5. Retrieve your [Vercel Access Token](https://vercel.com/guides/how-do-i-use-a-vercel-api-access-token) and set it as the value of `VERCEL_TOKEN` 3. Define a GitHub Action to kick off a production deployment each time a new tag is pushed. ```text name: Production Tag Deployment env: VERCEL_ORG_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_ORG_ID }} VERCEL_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_PROJECT_ID }} on: push: # Pattern matched against refs/tags tags: - '*' # Push events to every tag not containing / jobs: Deploy-Production: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - name: Install Vercel CLI run: npm install --global vercel@latest - name: Pull Vercel Environment Information run: vercel pull --yes --environment=production --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }} - name: Build Project Artifacts run: vercel build --prod --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }} - name: Deploy Project Artifacts to Vercel run: vercel deploy --prebuilt --prod --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }} ``` ## Deploying Hotfixes GitHub Actions and Vercel CLI can also be used to create production deployments for patches or hotfixes. 1. Create a `hotfix` branch. 2. Create a separate GitHub Action that only runs on pushes to the `hotfix` branch. This is similar to the GitHub Action defined above, but it will trigger a deployment from the `hotfix` branch for each new push to the branch. ```text name: Hotfix Deployment env: VERCEL_ORG_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_ORG_ID }} VERCEL_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_PROJECT_ID }} on: push: branches: - hotfix jobs: Deploy-Production: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - name: Install Vercel CLI run: npm install --global vercel@latest - name: Pull Vercel Environment Information run: vercel pull --yes --environment=production --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }} - name: Build Project Artifacts run: vercel build --prod --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }} - name: Deploy Project Artifacts to Vercel run: vercel deploy --prebuilt --prod --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }} ``` Any time you need to push a hotfix, create a PR to your `hotfix` branch and Vercel will deploy directly to production using this branch. ## Preview Deployments When deploying based on tags and releases, it’s still possible to take advantage of Preview Deployments with Vercel. By integrating [GitHub Actions with Vercel](https://vercel.com/support/articles/how-can-i-use-github-actions-with-vercel), you can have Vercel generate Preview Deployments. For example, if your team is deploying on each release, you can create an additional GitHub Action that will create a new branch and generate a preview for each new tag.