Deploy Your App

1

What are you deploying?

Select your stack type so we can show you the most relevant instructions.

2

Prepare Your Code

A

Make sure your app runs locally

Start your development server and verify everything works. Fix any errors before deploying.

B

Set up environment variables (.env)

API keys and passwords should be in a .env file, NOT in your code.

Example .env.local for Next.js/React:

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://api.example.com
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/mydb
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=your-secret-key

Example .env for Laravel:

APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=your-db-host.com
DB_DATABASE=your_database
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

Example .env for Node.js/Express:

PORT=3000
DATABASE_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/myapp
JWT_SECRET=your-jwt-secret
API_KEY=your-api-key

Static sites usually don't need .env files unless using a build-time API:

# Optional: for build-time data fetching
PUBLIC_API_URL=https://api.example.com

C

Protect your secrets with .gitignore

Make sure your .gitignore file includes your .env files so they don't get pushed to GitHub.

Warning: If you push your .env to a public repo, hackers can see your passwords. This is the #1 security mistake beginners make!

Your .gitignore should include:

.env
.env.local
.env.production
.env*.local

3

Push Your Code to GitHub

All hosting platforms connect to GitHub. Follow these steps to upload your code.

Before you start, make sure you have:

Git installed on your computer
A GitHub account

1

Open Terminal in your project folder

On Mac: Right-click your project folder → "New Terminal at Folder"
On Windows: Right-click → "Open in Terminal" or use VS Code's terminal

2

Initialize Git (skip if already done)

git init

3

Add all your files

git add .

4

Create your first commit

git commit -m "Initial commit"

5

Create a new repository on GitHub

Create New Repository

Give it a name (like "my-app"), then click "Create repository"

Tip: If you're vibe coding solo and not collaborating with others, set your repository to Private. This keeps your code hidden from the public. You can always change it to Public later if you want to share your project.

6

Connect your local project to GitHub

Replace YOUR_USERNAME and YOUR_REPO_NAME with your actual values:

git remote add origin https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPO_NAME.git

7

Push your code to GitHub

git push -u origin main

If you see "error: src refspec main does not match any", try git push -u origin master instead

Your code is now on GitHub! You can view it at github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPO_NAME

4

Choose how you want to deploy. Most beginners should start with Option A.

One-Click Deploy Platforms

These platforms connect to your GitHub repo and automatically deploy your app. No server setup required!

Vercel

Perfect for React, Next.js, Vue. Made by the Next.js team.

Deploy Now

N

Netlify

Great for static sites. Has drag & drop option too!

Deploy Now

R

Railway

Best for full-stack apps with databases. Supports Laravel, Django, Rails, Express.

Deploy Now

R

Render

Free PostgreSQL database. Great for APIs and backend projects.

Deploy Now

CF

Cloudflare Pages

Truly unlimited bandwidth. Fastest global CDN.

Deploy Now

Quick Comparison

Platform	Best For	Database	Free Tier
Vercel	Frontend, Next.js	Via integrations	Generous
Netlify	Static sites	Via integrations	Generous
Railway	Full-stack	PostgreSQL, MySQL	$5/month credit
Render	Backends, APIs	PostgreSQL (90 days)	Generous
Cloudflare	Static, unlimited	D1 (SQLite)	Unlimited

Deploy to Your Own Server with GitHub Actions

If you have a VPS (Digital Ocean, Linode, AWS EC2, etc.), you can set up automatic deployments using GitHub Actions. Every time you push code, your server updates automatically.

1

You push code to GitHub

2

GitHub Actions triggers

3

SSH connects to server

4

Server pulls & restarts

1 Create an SSH key for deployments

Run this on your local computer:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "github-actions-deploy" -f ~/.ssh/github_actions_deploy

Press Enter when asked for a passphrase (leave it empty).

2 Add the public key to your server

First, view your public key:

cat ~/.ssh/github_actions_deploy.pub

Then SSH into your server and add it to authorized_keys:

echo "YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY_HERE" >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

3 Add Repository Secrets to GitHub

Go to your GitHub repo → Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → New repository secret

DO_HOST

Your server's IP (e.g., 164.90.123.45)

DO_USERNAME

SSH username (e.g., root, deploy)

DO_SSH_KEY

Your private key (cat ~/.ssh/github_actions_deploy)

DO_PROJECT_PATH

Path on server (e.g., /var/www/myapp)

4 Create the workflow file

Create this file in your project: .github/workflows/deploy.yml

name: Deploy to Production

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Deploy via SSH
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v1.0.3
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.DO_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.DO_USERNAME }}
          key: ${{ secrets.DO_SSH_KEY }}
          script: |
            cd ${{ secrets.DO_PROJECT_PATH }}
            git fetch origin main
            git reset --hard origin/main

            # For Node.js projects:
            # npm install
            # npm run build
            # pm2 restart all

            # For Laravel projects:
            # composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
            # php artisan migrate --force
            # php artisan config:cache

            # For Python/Django projects:
            # source venv/bin/activate
            # pip install -r requirements.txt
            # python manage.py migrate

Uncomment the section that matches your stack.

Once set up, every push to main will automatically deploy!

5

After You Deploy

Custom Domain

Buy a domain and point it to your app. Most platforms make this easy.

Get a domain →

Free SSL (HTTPS)

All these platforms give you free SSL automatically. Your site will be secure!

Auto Deploys

Push to GitHub, your site updates automatically. No manual work needed!

Environment Variables Reference

Click to see detailed .env examples for each stack

Each hosting platform has a dashboard where you can add your environment variables. Never put sensitive data directly in your code!

Vercel: Settings → Environment Variables N Netlify: Site settings → Environment variables R Railway: Variables tab in your service R Render: Environment tab in dashboard

L Laravel

APP_NAME="My App"
APP_ENV=production
APP_KEY=base64:your-generated-key
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_URL=https://yourapp.com

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=your-db-host.com
DB_DATABASE=your_database
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

N Next.js / React

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://api.example.com
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/mydb
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=your-secret-key

# NEXT_PUBLIC_ variables are visible in browser
# Keep secrets WITHOUT the NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefix

D Django / Python

SECRET_KEY=your-django-secret-key
DEBUG=False
ALLOWED_HOSTS=yourapp.com,www.yourapp.com
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@host:5432/dbname

N Node.js / Express

PORT=3000
DATABASE_URL=mongodb://localhost:27017/myapp
JWT_SECRET=your-jwt-secret
STRIPE_KEY=sk_test_xxx

What are you deploying?

Prepare Your Code

Make sure your app runs locally

Set up environment variables (.env)

Protect your secrets with .gitignore

Push Your Code to GitHub

Deploy Your App

One-Click Deploy Platforms

Vercel

Netlify

Railway

Render

Cloudflare Pages

Quick Comparison

Deploy to Your Own Server with GitHub Actions

1 Create an SSH key for deployments

2 Add the public key to your server

3 Add Repository Secrets to GitHub

4 Create the workflow file

After You Deploy

Custom Domain

Free SSL (HTTPS)

Auto Deploys

Stuck? Ask Claude!