Vercel production deployment checklist with rollback and promotion procedures. Use when deploying to production, preparing for launch, or implementing go-live and instant rollback procedures. Trigger with phrases like "vercel production", "deploy vercel prod", "vercel go-live", "vercel launch checklist", "vercel promote".
Complete pre-production checklist for Vercel deployments covering environment variables, domain configuration, performance, security, monitoring, and instant rollback procedures.
# Verify production env vars are set
vercel env ls --environment=production
# Required production variables (example):
# DATABASE_URL — production database
# API_SECRET — production API key (type: sensitive)
# NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL — public API endpoint
# SENTRY_DSN — error tracking
# Build locally to catch errors before deploying
vercel build --prod
# Run test suite
npm test
# Option A: Deploy directly to production
vercel --prod
# Option B: Promote an existing preview deployment
vercel promote https://my-app-git-main-team.vercel.app
# Option C: Deploy via API
curl -X POST "https://api.vercel.com/v13/deployments" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VERCEL_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name": "my-app",
"target": "production",
"gitSource": {
"type": "github",
"repoId": "123456789",
"ref": "main",
"sha": "abc123"
}
}'
# Add production domain
vercel domains add yourdomain.com
# Verify domain DNS
vercel domains inspect yourdomain.com
# DNS setup for apex domain (yourdomain.com):
# A record → 76.76.21.21
# AAAA record → (Vercel provides)
# DNS setup for subdomain (www.yourdomain.com):
# CNAME → cname.vercel-dns.com
# SSL is automatically provisioned after DNS verification
# Verify production is responding
curl -sI https://yourdomain.com | head -5
# Test API endpoints
curl -s https://yourdomain.com/api/health | jq .
# Check SSL certificate
curl -vI https://yourdomain.com 2>&1 | grep "SSL certificate"
# Verify security headers
curl -sI https://yourdomain.com | grep -i "strict-transport\|x-frame\|x-content-type"
# Test from multiple regions (using Vercel's edge)
for region in iad1 sfo1 cdg1 hnd1; do
echo "Region: $region"
curl -s -H "x-vercel-ip-country: US" https://yourdomain.com/api/health
done
# If something goes wrong — instant rollback (no rebuild needed)
vercel rollback
# Or rollback to a specific deployment
vercel rollback dpl_xxxxxxxxxxxx
# Or via API
curl -X POST "https://api.vercel.com/v9/projects/my-app/promote" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VERCEL_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"deploymentId": "dpl_previous_good_deployment"}'
# Verify rollback succeeded
vercel ls --prod
curl -s https://yourdomain.com/api/health
// vercel.json — production optimization
{
"regions": ["iad1"],
"functions": {
"api/**/*.ts": {
"memory": 1024,
"maxDuration": 30
},
"api/heavy-compute.ts": {
"memory": 3008,
"maxDuration": 60
}
}
}
npm run build succeeds locallynpx tsc --noEmit)vercel --prod or promotion executedsensitive (hidden in logs)NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefix on secretswww subdomain redirects correctlymaxDuration set appropriately per functionvercel inspect)vercel rollback tested in staging| Error | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
DEPLOYMENT_BLOCKED | Branch protection or deployment freeze | Check team settings in dashboard |
| SSL not provisioned | DNS not propagated | Wait for DNS propagation, verify records |
| Env var undefined | Not scoped to Production | Add via vercel env add <key> production |
| Function cold starts in prod | No warm-up traffic | Enable concurrency scaling or use edge functions |
| Rollback fails | Previous deployment expired | Redeploy from known good commit |
For version upgrades, see vercel-upgrade-migration.