clerk-deploy-integration

name	clerk-deploy-integration
description	Configure Clerk for deployment on various platforms. Use when deploying to Vercel, Netlify, Railway, or other platforms, or when setting up production environment. Trigger with phrases like "deploy clerk", "clerk Vercel", "clerk Netlify", "clerk production deploy", "clerk Railway".
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Bash(vercel:*), Bash(netlify:*), Grep
version	1.0.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>

Clerk Deploy Integration

Overview

Deploy Clerk-authenticated applications to various hosting platforms.

Prerequisites

• Clerk production instance configured
• Production API keys ready
• Hosting platform account

Instructions

Platform 1: Vercel Deployment

Step 1: Configure Environment Variables

# Using Vercel CLI
vercel env add NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY production
vercel env add CLERK_SECRET_KEY production
vercel env add CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET production

# Or in vercel.json

// vercel.json
{
  "env": {
    "NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY": "@clerk-publishable-key",
    "CLERK_SECRET_KEY": "@clerk-secret-key"
  },
  "headers": [
    {
      "source": "/(.*)",
      "headers": [
        { "key": "X-Frame-Options", "value": "DENY" },
        { "key": "X-Content-Type-Options", "value": "nosniff" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Step 2: Configure Clerk Dashboard

1. Add Vercel domain to allowed origins
2. Set production URLs in Clerk Dashboard
3. Configure webhook endpoint

Step 3: Deploy

# Deploy to production
vercel --prod

# Or link to Git for auto-deploy
vercel link

Platform 2: Netlify Deployment

Step 1: Configure Environment Variables

# netlify.toml
[build]
  command = "npm run build"
  publish = ".next"

[build.environment]
  NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY = "pk_live_..."

# Add secret in Netlify Dashboard
# Site settings > Environment variables > CLERK_SECRET_KEY

Step 2: Create Netlify Functions for API

// netlify/functions/clerk-webhook.ts
import { Handler } from '@netlify/functions'
import { Webhook } from 'svix'

export const handler: Handler = async (event) => {
  const WEBHOOK_SECRET = process.env.CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET!

  const svix_id = event.headers['svix-id']
  const svix_timestamp = event.headers['svix-timestamp']
  const svix_signature = event.headers['svix-signature']

  const wh = new Webhook(WEBHOOK_SECRET)

  try {
    const evt = wh.verify(event.body!, {
      'svix-id': svix_id!,
      'svix-timestamp': svix_timestamp!,
      'svix-signature': svix_signature!
    })

    // Process event
    return { statusCode: 200, body: JSON.stringify({ success: true }) }
  } catch (err) {
    return { statusCode: , :  }
  }
}

Platform 3: Railway Deployment

Step 1: Configure Railway

# railway.json
{
  "build": {
    "builder": "NIXPACKS"
  },
  "deploy": {
    "startCommand": "npm start",
    "healthcheckPath": "/api/health"
  }
}

Step 2: Set Environment Variables

# Using Railway CLI
railway variables set NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_live_...
railway variables set CLERK_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
railway variables set CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...

Platform 4: Docker Deployment

Dockerfile

FROM node:20-alpine AS builder

WORKDIR /app

COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci

COPY . .

# Build-time args for NEXT_PUBLIC_ vars
ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY
ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=$NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY

RUN npm run build

FROM node:20-alpine AS runner

WORKDIR /app

ENV NODE_ENV=production

COPY --from=builder /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder /app/.next/static ./.next/static
COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public

# Runtime env vars
ENV CLERK_SECRET_KEY=""
ENV PORT=3000

EXPOSE 3000

CMD ["node", "server.js"]

# Build and run
docker build \
  --build-arg NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_live_... \
  -t myapp .

docker run -p 3000:3000 \
  -e CLERK_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_... \
  myapp

Platform 5: AWS Amplify

# amplify.yml
version: 1
frontend:
  phases:
    preBuild:
      commands:
        - npm ci
    build:
      commands:
        - npm run build
  artifacts:
    baseDirectory: .next
    files:
      - '**/*'
  cache:
    paths:
      - node_modules/**/*

Clerk Dashboard Configuration

Production Domain Setup

1. Go to Clerk Dashboard > Configure > Domains
2. Add your production domain
3. Configure SSL (automatic with most platforms)

Webhook Configuration

1. Go to Clerk Dashboard > Webhooks
2. Add endpoint: https://yourdomain.com/api/webhooks/clerk
3. Select events to subscribe
4. Copy webhook secret to environment

OAuth Redirect URLs

1. Update OAuth providers with production URLs
2. Add https://yourdomain.com/sso-callback
3. Remove development URLs for security

Output

• Platform-specific deployment configuration
• Environment variables configured
• Webhook endpoints ready
• Production domain configured

Deployment Checklist

• Production Clerk keys configured
• Domain added to Clerk Dashboard
• Webhook endpoint configured
• OAuth redirect URLs updated
• SSL/HTTPS enabled
• Security headers configured
• Health check endpoint working

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
500 on sign-in	Missing secret key	Add CLERK_SECRET_KEY to platform
Webhook fails	Wrong endpoint URL	Update URL in Clerk Dashboard
CORS error	Domain not allowed	Add domain to Clerk allowed origins
Redirect loop	Wrong sign-in URL	Check CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL config

Resources

• Vercel Deployment
• Netlify Deployment
• Railway Guide

Next Steps

Proceed to clerk-webhooks-events for webhook configuration.