---
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).