setup

name	setup
description	Set up Vercel CLI and configure project linking. Use when first connecting a project to Vercel.
allowed-tools	["Bash"]
user_invocable	true

Vercel Setup

First-time setup: install CLI, authenticate, link project, pull environment variables.

Steps

1. Install Vercel CLI

vercel --version 2>/dev/null || npm i -g vercel

2. Authenticate

vercel login

Follow the browser prompt to complete authentication.

3. Link project

Single project (most cases):

vercel link

Monorepo with multiple Vercel projects:

vercel link --repo

Monorepo decision: if the repo has multiple apps each deployed separately (e.g., apps/web, apps/api), use --repo. Otherwise, vercel link is fine.

4. Verify linking

cat .vercel/project.json 2>/dev/null || cat .vercel/repo.json 2>/dev/null

5. Pull environment variables

vercel pull

This creates .vercel/.env.development.local with your project's env vars.

6. Verify setup

vercel whoami && vercel project ls

Post-Setup

• Run vercel dev to start local development with Vercel's serverless functions.
• Run vercel deploy for a preview deployment.
• See references/getting-started.md and references/environment-variables.md for details.

Anti-Patterns

• Don't let commands auto-link in monorepos — always run vercel link (or --repo) explicitly first.
• Don't link while on the wrong team — check with vercel whoami, switch with vercel teams switch.