netlify deploy Command Reference

Deploy a built site to Netlify as a draft or production deploy.

netlify deploy uploads a built site directory to Netlify. Without --prod it creates a draft preview URL; with --prod it publishes to the production domain.

What it does

netlify deploy uploads the contents of a publish directory (and optional functions) to Netlify, returning a unique draft URL. Adding --prod publishes the same upload to the live site instead of a draft.

Common flags and usage

--prod: publish to the production URL instead of a draft
--dir DIR: the built site directory to upload
--functions DIR: directory of serverless functions to deploy
--site ID: target site id (with NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN for auth)
--message TEXT: label the deploy in the Netlify UI
--json: machine-readable output including the deploy URL

Example

shell

- name: Netlify Deploy
  env:
    NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN }}
    NETLIFY_SITE_ID: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_SITE_ID }}
  run: |
    netlify deploy --dir=dist --prod \
      --site="${NETLIFY_SITE_ID}" \
      --message="ci ${{ github.sha }}"

In CI

Authenticate with NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN and target the site with --site or NETLIFY_SITE_ID so the CLI never prompts. Deploy a draft on pull requests and reserve --prod for the deploy branch; --json lets you capture the draft URL to post back on the PR.

Key takeaways

netlify deploy uploads a built directory; --prod publishes to production.
Use NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN and --site so the CLI runs non-interactively.
Deploy drafts on PRs and reserve --prod for the deploy branch.