vitepress/docs/guide/deploy.md

---
outline: deep
---

# Deploy Your VitePress Site

The following guides are based on some shared assumptions:

- The VitePress site is inside the `docs` directory of your project.
- You are using the default build output directory (`.vitepress/dist`).
- VitePress is installed as a local dependency in your project, and you have set up the following scripts in your `package.json`:

  ```json
  {
    "scripts": {
      "docs:build": "vitepress build docs",
      "docs:preview": "vitepress preview docs"
    }
  }
  ```

## Build and Test Locally

1. Run this command to build the docs:

   ```sh
   $ npm run docs:build
   ```

2. Once built, preview it locally by running:

   ```sh
   $ npm run docs:preview
   ```

   The `preview` command will boot up a local static web server that will serve the output directory `.vitepress/dist` at `http://localhost:4173`. You can use this to make sure everything looks good before pushing to production.

3. You can configure the port of the server by passing `--port` as an argument.

   ```json
   {
     "scripts": {
       "docs:preview": "vitepress preview docs --port 8080"
     }
   }
   ```

   Now the `docs:preview` method will launch the server at `http://localhost:8080`.

## Setting a Public Base Path

By default, we assume the site is going to be deployed at the root path of a domain (`/`). If your site is going to be served at a sub-path, e.g. `https://mywebsite.com/blog/`, then you need to set the [`base`](../reference/site-config#base) option to `'/blog/'` in the VitePress config.

**Example:** If you're using Github (or GitLab) Pages and deploying to `user.github.io/repo/`, then set your `base` to `/repo/`.

## HTTP Cache Headers

If you have control over the HTTP headers on your production server, you can configure `cache-control` headers to achieve better performance on repeated visits.

The production build uses hashed file names for static assets (JavaScript, CSS and other imported assets not in `public`). If you inspect the production preview using your browser devtools' network tab, you will see files like `app.4f283b18.js`.

This `4f283b18` hash is generated from the content of this file. The same hashed URL is guaranteed to serve the same file content - if the contents change, the URLs change too. This means you can safely use the strongest cache headers for these files. All such files will be placed under `assets/` in the output directory, so you can configure the following header for them:

```
Cache-Control: max-age=31536000,immutable
```

::: details Example Netlify `_headers` file

```
/assets/*
  cache-control: max-age=31536000
  cache-control: immutable
```

Note: the `_headers` file should be placed in the [public directory](/guide/asset-handling#the-public-directory) - in our case, `docs/public/_headers` - so that it is copied verbatim to the output directory.

[Netlify custom headers documentation](https://docs.netlify.com/routing/headers/)

:::

::: details Example Vercel config in `vercel.json`

```json
{
  "headers": [
    {
      "source": "/assets/(.*)",
      "headers": [
        {
          "key": "Cache-Control",
          "value": "max-age=31536000, immutable"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

Note: the `vercel.json` file should be placed at the root of your **repository**.

[Vercel documentation on headers config](https://vercel.com/docs/concepts/projects/project-configuration#headers)

:::

## Platform Guides

### Netlify / Vercel / Cloudflare Pages / AWS Amplify / Render

Set up a new project and change these settings using your dashboard:

- **Build Command:** `npm run docs:build`
- **Output Directory:** `docs/.vitepress/dist`
- **Node Version:** `16` (or above, by default it usually will be 14 or 16, but on Cloudflare Pages the default is still 12, so you may need to [change that](https://developers.cloudflare.com/pages/platform/build-configuration/))

::: warning
Don't enable options like _Auto Minify_ for HTML code. It will remove comments from output which have meaning to Vue. You may see hydration mismatch errors if they get removed.
:::

### GitHub Pages

1. In your theme config file, `docs/.vitepress/config.js`, set the `base` property to the name of your GitHub repository. If you plan to deploy your site to `https://foo.github.io/bar/`, then you should set base to `'/bar/'`. It should always start and end with a slash.

2. Create a file named `deploy.yml` inside `.github/workflows` directory of your project with the following content:

   ```yaml
   name: Deploy
   on:
     workflow_dispatch: {}
     push:
       branches:
         - main
   jobs:
     deploy:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       permissions:
         contents: read
         pages: write
         id-token: write
       environment:
         name: github-pages
         url: ${{ steps.deployment.outputs.page_url }}
       steps:
         - uses: actions/checkout@v3
           with:
             fetch-depth: 0
         - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
           with:
             node-version: 16
             cache: npm
         - run: npm ci
         - name: Build
           run: npm run docs:build
         - uses: actions/configure-pages@v2
         - uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v1
           with:
             path: docs/.vitepress/dist
         - name: Deploy
           id: deployment
           uses: actions/deploy-pages@v1
   ```

   ::: tip
   Please replace the corresponding branch name. For example, if the branch you want to build is `master`, then you should replace `main` with `master` in the above file.
   :::

3. In your repository's Settings under Pages menu item, select `GitHub Actions` in Build and deployment's Source.

4. Now commit your code and push it to the `main` branch.

5. Wait for actions to complete.

6. In your repository's Settings under Pages menu item, click `Visit site`, then you can see your site. Your docs will automatically deploy each time you push.

### GitLab Pages

1. Set `outDir` in `docs/.vitepress/config.js` to `../public`.

2. Still in your config file, `docs/.vitepress/config.js`, set the `base` property to the name of your GitLab repository. If you plan to deploy your site to `https://foo.gitlab.io/bar/`, then you should set base to `'/bar/'`. It should always start and end with a slash.

3. Create a file called `.gitlab-ci.yml` in the root of your project with the content below. This will build and deploy your site whenever you make changes to your content:

   ```yaml
   image: node:16
   pages:
     cache:
       paths:
         - node_modules/
     script:
       - npm install
       - npm run docs:build
     artifacts:
       paths:
         - public
     only:
       - main
   ```

4. Alternatively, if you want to use an _alpine_ version of node, you have to install `git` manually. In that case, the code above modifies to this:
   ```yaml
   image: node:16-alpine
   pages:
     cache:
       paths:
         - node_modules/
     before_script:
       - apk add git
     script:
       - npm install
       - npm run docs:build
     artifacts:
       paths:
         - public
     only:
       - main
   ```

### Azure Static Web Apps

1. Follow the [official documentation](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/static-web-apps/build-configuration).

2. Set these values in your configuration file (and remove the ones you don't require, like `api_location`):

   - **`app_location`**: `/`
   - **`output_location`**: `docs/.vitepress/dist`
   - **`app_build_command`**: `npm run docs:build`

### Firebase

1. Create `firebase.json` and `.firebaserc` at the root of your project:

   `firebase.json`:

   ```json
   {
     "hosting": {
       "public": "docs/.vitepress/dist",
       "ignore": []
     }
   }
   ```

   `.firebaserc`:

   ```json
   {
     "projects": {
       "default": "<YOUR_FIREBASE_ID>"
     }
   }
   ```

2. After running `npm run docs:build`, run this command to deploy:

   ```sh
   firebase deploy
   ```

### Surge

1. After running `npm run docs:build`, run this command to deploy:

   ```sh
   npx surge docs/.vitepress/dist
   ```

### Heroku

1. Follow documentation and guide given in [`heroku-buildpack-static`](https://elements.heroku.com/buildpacks/heroku/heroku-buildpack-static).

2. Create a file called `static.json` in the root of your project with the below content:

   ```json
   {
     "root": "docs/.vitepress/dist"
   }
   ```

### Edgio

Refer [Creating and Deploying a VitePress App To Edgio](https://docs.edg.io/guides/vitepress).