Netlify Deployment Skill

Deploy web projects to Netlify using the Netlify CLI with intelligent detection of project configuration and deployment context.

Overview

This skill automates Netlify deployments by:

Verifying Netlify CLI authentication

Detecting project configuration and framework

Linking to existing sites or creating new ones

Deploying to production or preview environments

Prerequisites

Netlify CLI

Installed via npx (no global install required)

Authentication

Netlify account with active login session

Project

Valid web project in current directory

Authentication Pattern

The skill uses the

pre-authenticated Netlify CLI

approach:

Check authentication status with

npx netlify status

If not authenticated, guide user through

npx netlify login

Fail gracefully if authentication cannot be established

Authentication uses either:

Browser-based OAuth

(primary):

netlify login

opens browser for authentication

API Key

(alternative): Set

NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN

environment variable

Workflow

1. Verify Netlify CLI Authentication

Check if the user is logged into Netlify:

npx netlify status

Expected output patterns

:

✅ Authenticated: Shows logged-in user email and site link status

❌ Not authenticated: "Not logged into any site" or authentication error

If not authenticated

, guide the user:

npx netlify login

This opens a browser window for OAuth authentication. Wait for user to complete login, then verify with

netlify status

again.

Alternative: API Key authentication

If browser authentication isn't available, users can set:

export

NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN

=

your_token_here

Tokens can be generated at:

https://app.netlify.com/user/applications#personal-access-tokens

2. Detect Site Link Status

From

netlify status

output, determine:

Linked

Site already connected to Netlify (shows site name/URL)

Not linked

Need to link or create site 3. Link to Existing Site or Create New If already linked → Skip to step 4 If not linked , attempt to link by Git remote:

Check if project is Git-based

git remote show origin

If Git-based, extract remote URL

Format: https://github.com/username/repo or git@github.com:username/repo.git

Try to link by Git remote

npx netlify link --git-remote-url < REMOTE_URL

If link fails (site doesn't exist on Netlify):

Create new site interactively

npx netlify init This guides user through: Choosing team/account Setting site name Configuring build settings Creating netlify.toml if needed 4. Verify Dependencies Before deploying, ensure project dependencies are installed:

For npm projects

npm install

For other package managers, detect and use appropriate command

yarn install, pnpm install, etc.

1. Deploy to Netlify Choose deployment type based on context: Preview/Draft Deploy (default for existing sites): npx netlify deploy This creates a deploy preview with a unique URL for testing. Production Deploy (for new sites or explicit production deployments): npx netlify deploy --prod This deploys to the live production URL. Deployment process : CLI detects build settings (from netlify.toml or prompts user) Builds the project locally Uploads built assets to Netlify Returns deployment URL

2. Report Results

   After deployment, report to user:

   Deploy URL

   Unique URL for this deployment

   Site URL

   Production URL (if production deploy)

   Deploy logs

   Link to Netlify dashboard for logs

   Next steps

   Suggest

   netlify open

   to view site or dashboard

   Handling netlify.toml

   If a

   netlify.toml

   file exists, the CLI uses it automatically. If not, the CLI will prompt for:

   Build command

   e.g.,

   npm run build

   ,

   next build

   Publish directory

   e.g.,

   dist

   ,

   build

   ,

   .next

   Common framework defaults:

   Next.js

   build command

   npm run build

   , publish

   .next

   React (Vite)

   build command

   npm run build

   , publish

   dist

   Static HTML

   no build command, publish current directory The skill should detect framework from package.json if possible and suggest appropriate settings. Example Full Workflow

1. Check authentication

npx netlify status

If not authenticated:

npx netlify login

2. Link site (if needed)

Try Git-based linking first

git remote show origin npx netlify link --git-remote-url https://github.com/user/repo

If no site exists, create new one:

npx netlify init

3. Install dependencies

npm install

4. Deploy (preview for testing)

npx netlify deploy

5. Deploy to production (when ready)

npx netlify deploy --prod Error Handling Common issues and solutions: "Not logged in" → Run npx netlify login "No site linked" → Run npx netlify link or npx netlify init "Build failed" → Check build command and publish directory in netlify.toml or CLI prompts → Verify dependencies are installed → Review build logs for specific errors "Publish directory not found" → Verify build command ran successfully → Check publish directory path is correct Environment Variables For secrets and configuration: Never commit secrets to Git Set in Netlify dashboard: Site Settings → Environment Variables Access in builds via process.env.VARIABLE_NAME Tips Use netlify deploy (no --prod ) first to test before production Run netlify open to view site in Netlify dashboard Run netlify logs to view function logs (if using Netlify Functions) Use netlify dev for local development with Netlify Functions Reference Netlify CLI Docs: https://docs.netlify.com/cli/get-started/ netlify.toml Reference: https://docs.netlify.com/configure-builds/file-based-configuration/ Bundled References (Load As Needed) CLI commands Deployment patterns netlify.toml guide