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To take a local project live on Vercel, link the project, create and check a preview deployment, then deploy the approved version to production. To use your own domain, add it to the project and configure the exact DNS values Vercel displays. You can keep DNS with your current provider or delegate it to Vercel; the right choice depends on the records and services your domain already uses.
How Vercel deployments move from local to live
Vercel distinguishes between your local development environment, Preview deployments, and Production. A Preview lets you inspect a deployment without changing the live site. Production is the user-facing release. This separation makes it possible to check a build before publishing it. See Vercel’s environment documentation.
Prepare and link your local project
Run the CLI commands from the project’s root directory. Linking associates the local folder with a Vercel project and creates a .vercel directory containing project and organization configuration.
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Link the project:
vercel link. Follow the CLI prompts to select or create the project and organization. -
If local development needs the project’s environment variables, retrieve them with
vercel env pull .env.local. This step is optional; not every project needs it. Treat.env.localas sensitive because it can contain secrets.
Vercel documents this CLI workflow in Deploying a project from the CLI.
Create and check a Preview deployment
From the linked project directory, run:
vercel deploy
The CLI returns a deployment URL. Open it and check that the build and the parts of the application that matter to your release behave as expected. If the build fails, inspect the deployment’s error logs and address the reported issue before continuing. Vercel also creates Preview deployments for pushes and pull requests when a project is connected to Git.
Deploy the checked version to Production
When the version is ready for users, run:
vercel deploy --prod
This deploys to Production; Vercel assigns the project’s production domain automatically. The CLI’s deploy command documentation describes the production option.
Add your custom domain to the project
Add the domain to the Vercel project before editing DNS. You can use the CLI commands shown in Vercel’s deployment guide, replacing the example domain and project name with your own:
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Add the domain:
vercel domains add example.com <project-name>. -
Inspect the domain’s required configuration:
vercel domains inspect example.com.
You can also add the domain through the Vercel dashboard. The inspection output or dashboard shows the configuration Vercel currently requires for that project. Use those project-specific values rather than assuming a generic DNS example will apply. Follow Vercel’s custom-domain setup guide.
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There are two practical options: keep DNS at your existing provider and add the required records there, or delegate nameservers to Vercel and manage DNS in Vercel. Compare the control, migration work, existing services, wildcard requirements, and expected delay before choosing.
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Decision |
Keep your existing DNS provider |
Use Vercel nameservers |
|---|---|---|
|
Where records are edited |
At the current provider’s dashboard |
In Vercel’s DNS management |
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Setup |
Add the project-required records manually, then verify them in Vercel |
Delegation enables Vercel to manage records automatically |
|
Existing services |
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|
Recreate records that must continue working, including mail records |
|
Wildcard domains |
Vercel’s troubleshooting guidance requires nameserver delegation for wildcard domains |
Supports Vercel’s automatic DNS-01 validation workflow |
|
Propagation consideration |
Timing depends on record TTLs and resolver caches |
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Rank #4 |
Keep DNS at your existing provider
If you do not change nameservers, add the records Vercel specifies in the DNS dashboard where the domain is managed. Vercel commonly documents an A record for an apex domain such as example.com and a CNAME for a subdomain such as www.example.com. Its example values—A record 76.76.21.21 and CNAME target cname.vercel-dns-0.com—are general-purpose examples, not values to copy blindly. The values shown for your project take precedence. See Vercel’s domain configuration guide.
Delegate nameservers to Vercel
Vercel lists ns1.vercel-dns.com and ns2.vercel-dns.com for its nameserver option. Delegation lets Vercel manage DNS records, but changing nameservers affects the domain’s DNS authority. Before switching, recreate records you still need—especially MX records for receiving email. Vercel explicitly notes that MX records are needed to continue receiving email when its nameservers are used. Review Working with nameservers and Troubleshooting domains before making the change.
Verify DNS and HTTPS
After configuring DNS, inspect the domain again in Vercel and check its verification and certificate status. Vercel says it automatically provisions SSL after successful DNS verification and that provisioning typically takes a few minutes. That is guidance, not a guarantee: DNS changes may not yet be visible to every resolver, or a record conflict may prevent verification. The custom-domain setup guide explains the verification flow.
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Confirm the project association. Check that the domain is attached to the Vercel project you intend to serve it.
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Compare the live DNS configuration with Vercel’s current instructions. Correct mismatched values and remove outdated conflicting records. Do not rely on an example value if the project’s inspection output shows something else.
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Check what DNS returns. From a terminal, run the query that matches your record:
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dig ns <domain>checks nameservers. -
dig a <apex-domain>checks the apex A record. -
dig cname <subdomain>checks a subdomain CNAME.
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Check record formatting at an external provider. Some DNS dashboards expect only the host prefix in the record-name field. Copy the CNAME target exactly as Vercel displays it, including a trailing dot if one is shown.
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Allow for caching and propagation. Record changes can take time to appear across resolvers. Vercel says nameserver changes may take 24–48 hours; actual timing depends on the previous record TTLs and resolver behavior. If only one device or network sees a failure, clear browser or local/network DNS caches and test from another network.
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If HTTPS certificate issuance fails, check CAA records. Compare the domain’s certificate-related configuration with the instructions Vercel shows, then inspect the domain again after correcting any issue.
These checks follow Vercel’s domain troubleshooting guidance.
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