vercel-cli

name	vercel-cli
description	Deploy, manage, and develop projects on Vercel from the command line

Vercel CLI Skill

The Vercel CLI (vercel or vc) deploys, manages, and develops projects on the Vercel platform from the command line. Use vercel <command> -h for full flag details on any command.

Critical: Project Linking

Commands must be run from the directory containing the .vercel folder (or a subdirectory of it). How .vercel gets set up depends on your project structure:

• .vercel/project.json: Created by vercel link. Links a single project. Fine for single-project repos, and can work in monorepos if there's only one project.
• .vercel/repo.json: Created by vercel link --repo. Links a repo that may contain multiple projects. Always a good idea when any project has a non-root directory (e.g., apps/web).

Running from a project subdirectory (e.g., apps/web/) skips the "which project?" prompt since it's unambiguous.

When something goes wrong, check how things are linked first — look at what's in .vercel/ and whether it's project.json or repo.json. Also verify you're on the right team with vercel whoami — linking while on the wrong team is a common mistake.

Quick Start

npm i -g vercel
vercel login
vercel link              # single project
# OR
vercel link --repo       # monorepo
vercel pull
vercel dev        # local development
vercel deploy     # preview deployment
vercel --prod     # production deployment

Decision Tree

Use this to route to the correct reference file:

• Deploy → references/deployment.md
• Local development → references/local-development.md
• Environment variables → references/environment-variables.md
• CI/CD automation → references/ci-automation.md
• Domains or DNS → references/domains-and-dns.md
• Projects or teams → references/projects-and-teams.md
• Logs, debugging, or accessing preview deploys → references/monitoring-and-debugging.md
• Blob storage → references/storage.md
• Integrations (databases, storage, etc.) → references/integrations.md
• Access a preview deployment → use vercel curl (see references/monitoring-and-debugging.md)
• CLI doesn't have a command for it → use vercel api as a fallback (see references/advanced.md)
• Node.js backends (Express, Hono, etc.) → references/node-backends.md
• Monorepos (Turborepo, Nx, workspaces) → references/monorepos.md
• Bun runtime → references/bun.md
• Feature flags → references/flags.md
• Advanced (API, webhooks) → references/advanced.md
• Global flags → references/global-options.md
• First-time setup → references/getting-started.md

Anti-Patterns

• Wrong link type in monorepos with multiple projects: vercel link creates project.json, which only tracks one project. Use vercel link --repo instead. When things break, check .vercel/ first.
• Letting commands auto-link in monorepos: Many commands implicitly run vercel link if .vercel/ doesn't exist. This creates project.json, which may be wrong. Run vercel link (or --repo) explicitly first.
• Linking while on the wrong team: Use vercel whoami to check, vercel teams switch to change.
• Forgetting --yes in CI: Required to skip interactive prompts.
• Using vercel deploy after vercel build without --prebuilt: The build output is ignored.
• Hardcoding tokens in flags: Use VERCEL_TOKEN env var instead of --token.
• Disabling deployment protection: Use vercel curl instead to access preview deploys.

CI/CD Integration

For this project, Vercel CLI is for local development only. Deployment is handled automatically by Vercel's Git integration (push to main → auto-deploy).

Local Testing Workflow

cd web
vercel link          # One-time: link to project
vercel pull --yes    # Pull env vars locally
vercel dev           # Local dev server
vercel build --prod  # Verify production build

GitHub Actions

CI runs test/lint/build verification only — no deploy jobs. Vercel handles deployment automatically via Git integration.

If using Vercel CLI in GitHub Actions (e.g., for E2E tests), ensure:

• Install CLI: npm i -g vercel
• Pass --token flag to all Vercel CLI commands
• Use include-hidden-files: true on upload-artifact (.vercel/ is hidden)