vercel

name	vercel
description	Vercel frontend deployment with edge functions. Use for frontend hosting.

Vercel

Vercel is the platform for the frontend cloud. In 2025, it has expanded beyond hosting to become a full AI and Storage platform (Vercel Blob/Postgres).

When to Use

• Next.js: The best place to deploy Next.js apps.
• Frontend-First: Deploys from Git, automatic preview URLs for every PR.
• AI Apps: Native integration with Vercel AI SDK for streaming LLM responses.

Quick Start (CLI)

npm i -g vercel

# Deploy (Preview)
vercel

# Deploy (Production)
vercel --prod

Core Concepts

Infrastructure as Code (Implicit)

vercel.json or framework defaults. Minimal config required.

Serverless & Edge Functions

API routes in app/api are deployed as Serverless (Node.js) or Edge (WinterCG) functions automatically.

Storage

Vercel now provides:

• KV: Redis (Upstash)
• Postgres: SQL (Neon)
• Blob: Object Storage (R2)

Best Practices (2025)

Do:

• Use Comments for Preview: Vercel Toolbar allows stakeholders to comment directly on the Preview UI.
• Use Vercel Postgres: For new side projects, the tight integration is unbeatable.
• Use vercel env pull: Sync production env vars to local .env.

Don't:

• Don't ignore region: Ensure your Database and Function regions match (e.g., both iad1), otherwise latency kills performance.

References

• Vercel Documentation