Managing Vercel

Vercel CLI Skill

Purpose: Fast reference for Vercel CLI operations | Target: <500 lines

Overview

What is Vercel: Frontend cloud platform with automatic CI/CD, serverless functions, edge network, and global CDN. Optimized for Next.js, React, Vue, and other frameworks.

When to Use:

• Deploying frontend applications
• Managing serverless functions and domains
• Managing environment variables
• Debugging deployments and logs

Auto-Detection Triggers:

• vercel.json in project root
• .vercel directory present
• VERCEL_TOKEN in .env file

Progressive Disclosure:

• This file: Quick reference for immediate use
• REFERENCE.md: Advanced patterns, CI/CD, troubleshooting deep-dives

Table of Contents

1. Critical: Avoiding Interactive Mode
2. Prerequisites
3. Authentication
4. CLI Decision Tree
5. Command Reference
6. Static Reference Data
7. Common Workflows
8. Error Handling
9. Framework Examples
10. Agent Integration
11. Quick Reference Card

Critical: Avoiding Interactive Mode

Vercel CLI can hang Claude Code. Always use flags to bypass prompts:

Required flags: --yes, --token <TOKEN>, explicit names, --no-wait

Never use: vercel login, vercel dev, commands without --yes when modifying

Prerequisites

# Check CLI
vercel --version  # Expects: 30.x.x+

# Install
npm i -g vercel

Authentication

# Set token from .env
export VERCEL_TOKEN="$(grep VERCEL_TOKEN .env | cut -d= -f2)"
vercel --token $VERCEL_TOKEN whoami

CLI Decision Tree

Project Operations

Link to project      --> vercel link --yes --project <name>
List projects        --> vercel project ls
Create project       --> vercel project add <name>
Remove project       --> vercel project rm <name> --yes
Current user         --> vercel whoami
Switch teams         --> vercel switch <team-slug>

Deployment Operations

Deploy preview       --> vercel --yes
Deploy production    --> vercel --prod --yes
Staged production    --> vercel --prod --skip-domain --yes
Promote staged       --> vercel promote <url> --yes
Redeploy existing    --> vercel redeploy <url> --no-wait
Rollback             --> vercel rollback <url>
List deployments     --> vercel list [project]
Inspect deployment   --> vercel inspect <url>
Remove deployment    --> vercel remove <url> --yes

Environment Variables

List vars            --> vercel env ls [environment]
Add var              --> echo "value" | vercel env add NAME production
Add from file        --> vercel env add NAME production < secret.txt
Remove var           --> vercel env rm NAME --yes
Pull to .env         --> vercel pull --yes --environment production

Domains

List domains         --> vercel domains ls
Add domain           --> vercel domains add <domain> [project]
Force add            --> vercel domains add <domain> <project> --force
Remove domain        --> vercel domains rm <domain> --yes
Inspect domain       --> vercel domains inspect <domain>

Debugging

View logs            --> vercel logs <deployment-url>
Logs as JSON         --> vercel logs <url> --json
Inspect details      --> vercel inspect <url>
HTTP status          --> vercel httpstat <url>

For DNS, certificates, and advanced operations, see REFERENCE.md

Command Reference

Core Commands

Environment Variables

Domains

Static Reference Data

Deployment Regions (Key Regions)

Full 19-region list in REFERENCE.md

Environment Types

System Variables

Common Workflows

1. Project Setup

vercel link --yes --project myapp
vercel pull --yes --environment development

2. Deploy

vercel --yes                    # Preview
vercel --prod --yes             # Production

3. Staged Production

vercel --prod --skip-domain --yes > staged-url.txt
# Test the staged deployment
vercel promote $(cat staged-url.txt) --yes

4. Environment Variables

vercel env ls production
echo "secret" | vercel env add API_KEY production
vercel env rm OLD_KEY --yes

5. Debug Deployment

vercel logs <deployment-url>
vercel logs <url> --json | jq '.message'
vercel inspect <url>

6. Rollback

vercel rollback <deployment-url>

Advanced workflows (CI/CD, blue-green, canary) in REFERENCE.md

Error Handling

Quick Troubleshooting

vercel whoami                    # Verify auth
vercel --token $VERCEL_TOKEN whoami  # Check token
vercel logs <url>                # View errors
vercel inspect <url>             # Deployment details

Deep troubleshooting in REFERENCE.md

Framework Examples

Next.js

{
  "$schema": "https://openapi.vercel.sh/vercel.json",
  "framework": "nextjs",
  "regions": ["iad1", "sfo1"]
}

React (Vite)

{
  "framework": "vite",
  "buildCommand": "npm run build",
  "outputDirectory": "dist"
}

More frameworks in REFERENCE.md

Agent Integration

Auto-Detection Triggers

• vercel.json or .vercel directory
• VERCEL_TOKEN in .env
• User mentions "Vercel", "deploy to Vercel"

Pattern Recognition

High-confidence:
  - "Deploy to Vercel"
  - "vercel deploy", "Vercel logs"
  - "Add domain to Vercel"

Medium-confidence:
  - "Deploy frontend"
  - "Next.js deployment"

Handoff to Deep-Debugger

• Build failures with unclear errors
• Runtime errors in serverless functions
• Performance issues requiring profiling

Provide: vercel logs output, vercel inspect output, vercel.json

Quick Reference Card

# Auth
export VERCEL_TOKEN="xxx"
vercel --token $VERCEL_TOKEN whoami

# Project
vercel link --yes --project myapp
vercel project ls
vercel project rm myapp --yes

# Deploy
vercel --yes                          # Preview
vercel --prod --yes                   # Production
vercel promote <url> --yes            # Promote

# Rollback
vercel rollback <url>

# Env Vars
vercel env ls production
echo "value" | vercel env add KEY production
vercel env rm KEY --yes
vercel pull --yes --environment production

# Domains
vercel domains ls
vercel domains add api.example.com myapp
vercel domains rm api.example.com --yes

# Debug
vercel logs <url>
vercel inspect <url>
vercel list --json

See Also: REFERENCE.md for CI/CD integration, multi-region config, security, cost optimization