ElevenLabs Deploy Integration
Overview
Deploy ElevenLabs TTS/voice applications to Vercel (serverless), Fly.io
(containers), or Google Cloud Run with proper secrets management, timeout
configuration, and streaming support. Pick the platform that matches your
traffic shape, write the platform config + server code, store the API key as a
platform secret, then deploy and smoke-test the live endpoint.
Prerequisites
- ElevenLabs API key for production
- Platform CLI installed (
vercel, fly, or gcloud)
- Application code tested locally
Instructions
Follow these steps. The lean skeleton is below; the full config files and
server code for each platform are in
references/implementation.md.
-
Inspect the repo and pick a platform. Read the existing app code and
any current deploy config, then choose from the comparison table below —
Vercel for a simple stateless TTS API, Fly.io for streaming/WebSocket, Cloud
Run for bursty variable load.
-
Write the platform config + server code. Use Write/Edit to create
the platform files in the repo — vercel.json + the API route for Vercel,
fly.toml + Express server for Fly.io, Dockerfile for Cloud Run. Full
versions are in references/implementation.md.
-
Set the API key as a platform secret (never commit it):
vercel env add ELEVENLABS_API_KEY production
fly secrets set ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=sk_...
echo -n "sk_..." | gcloud secrets create elevenlabs-api-key --data-file=-
-
Mind the timeout. Vercel Hobby caps functions at 10s (30s on Pro) — use
the eleven_flash_v2_5 model to stay under it. Fly.io and Cloud Run have no
such short cap.
-
Deploy, then smoke-test the live endpoint (see
references/examples.md):
vercel --prod
fly deploy
gcloud run deploy tts-service --source .
Platform Comparison for ElevenLabs
| Feature | Vercel | Fly.io | Cloud Run |
|---|
| Max timeout | 30s (Pro) | No limit | 60min |
| WebSocket streaming | Limited | Full support | Full support |
| Cold start | ~1-3s | ~0.5-2s | ~1-5s |
| Concurrency | Per-function | Per-VM | Per-instance |
| Best for | Simple TTS API | Streaming/WebSocket | Variable load |
| Min cost | Free tier | ~$2/mo | Free tier |
Output
A working deployment of a validated TTS build produces:
- A live TTS endpoint returning
audio/mpeg (Vercel/Fly.io/Cloud Run URL)
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY (and any webhook secret) stored as a platform secret,
never in the repo- Platform config committed to the repo —
vercel.json, fly.toml, or
Dockerfile — matching the chosen platform's timeout/concurrency limits
- A
/health endpoint (Fly.io/Cloud Run) reporting live quota via the SDK
Error Handling
| Issue | Cause | Solution |
|---|
| Vercel timeout | TTS > 10s on Hobby | Upgrade to Pro (30s) or use Flash model |
| Cold start slow | Container initialization | Set min_instances=1 (Cloud Run) or min_machines=1 (Fly) |
| Secret not found | Missing platform config | Add via platform CLI |
| Streaming broken | Proxy buffering | Disable response buffering in nginx/CDN |
| CORS errors | Missing headers | Add Access-Control-Allow-Origin to TTS endpoint |
Examples
Deploy a simple TTS API to Vercel (Flash model, under the Pro timeout):
vercel env add ELEVENLABS_API_KEY production
vercel --prod
Deploy a streaming service to Fly.io and confirm quota via the health check:
fly secrets set ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=sk_your_prod_key
fly deploy
curl -s https://my-tts-service.fly.dev/health | jq
Full end-to-end flows for all three platforms — secret setup, deploy, and live
smoke-test — are in references/examples.md.
Resources
Next Steps
For webhook handling on a deployed service, see the elevenlabs-webhooks-events
skill, which covers verifying signatures and handling ElevenLabs event
callbacks against the endpoints you just shipped.
