How to deploy a Node/Express App to Vercel

This is just a quick simple example of course more complex applications will work as well.

Prerequisites

Step 1

Create an account with Vercel if you don't already have one.

Vercel is a cloud platform for static sites and Serverless Functions that fits perfectly with your workflow. It enables developers to host Jamstack websites and web services that deploy instantly, scale automatically, and requires no supervision, all with no configuration.

Step 2

Use npm to install Vercel globally on your computer https://www.npmjs.com/package/vercel

npm i -g vercel

Setup the project

Create a project

mkdir vercel-node-app
cd vercel-node-app
touch index.js
npm init -y
npm i express

Open the project in your code editor and then create a Node server in the index.js file

const express = require('express');

const app = express();

app.get('/', (req, res) => res.send('Home Page Route'));

app.get('/about', (req, res) => res.send('About Page Route'));

app.get('/portfolio', (req, res) => res.send('Portfolio Page Route'));

app.get('/contact', (req, res) => res.send('Contact Page Route'));

const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;

app.listen(port, () => console.log(`Server running on ${port}, http://localhost:${port}`));

Create a run script in the package.json file

    "scripts": {
        "start": "node index.js"
    },

Run the command below to see your Node app working locally in the browser

npm run start

Deploying to Vercel

Make sure that you are in the root folder for your project and then run the command vercel in your terminal.

Use the project setup settings below as a guide to setup your own project with Vercel.

? Set up and deploy “~/Desktop/username/vercel-node-app”? [Y/n] y
? Which scope do you want to deploy to? username
? Link to existing project? [y/N] n
? What’s your project’s name? vercel-node-app
? In which directory is your code located? ./
No framework detected. Default Project Settings:
- Build Command: `npm run vercel-build` or `npm run build`
- Output Directory: `public` if it exists, or `.`
- Development Command: None
? Want to override the settings? [y/N] n

Once that is complete it is going to give you some links. The app is NOT going to work yet it is only going to show you the code inside of your index.js file. You need to create a vercel.json file and put it in the root folder so that Vercel knows that it is a Node application. And it is very important that your index.js file remains in the root folder along with your other server side code for the project otherwise your app won't work.

Create a vercel.json file and put it in the root of your project folder and then add the code below

{
    "version": 2,
    "builds": [
        {
            "src": "./index.js",
            "use": "@vercel/node"
        }
    ],
    "routes": [
        {
            "src": "/(.*)",
            "dest": "/"
        }
    ]
}

Now run the command vercel again to deploy your app. Open the Production link and your app should be working online with full working routes.

Comments

[Andrew Baisden]

Hey I just tried it and it's still working. What is your operating system and which browser did you try it in? Are you sure that you followed all of the steps what errors did you get?

[LeanDev]

Hello, im on linux mint 20, node 12.18.3, chrome 85.0.4183.121. I don't get any erros per se but the deployment page displays my source code as if it was on a directory listing instead of running it

[Andrew Baisden]

Ok I think that its likely a Linux issue because I have another Vercel guide that uses Python and a few people had problems getting it to work on Linux as well How to deploy a Python/Flask App to Vercel The system architecture is different so I think it changes the paths. You could check out the docs here vercel.com/docs or find a solution on google. If I had Linux I would be able to debug it.

[LeanDev]

Alright i'll look it up, thanks for the help!

[krehwell]

hey there. after you save the last script vercel.json run command vercel --prod instead of just vercel command as the author says. it works for me

[Erick Ventura]

Thanks you help me a lot

[Shashwat Verma]

thanks, a lot. I'm not just having a problem with static assets.
I've kept my assets/images in the public folder but that doesn't work.
please provide me a solution.

[Andrew Baisden]

Do the following to get images working.

1 - Create a folder called public and put it in the root directory

2 - Add these lines to your index.js file

const path = require('path');

app.use('/static', express.static(path.join(__dirname + '/public')));

3 - Put some images in the public folder I will use cyberpunk.png as an example

4 - See localhost and Vercel link examples below. Change the port, username and images to suit your needs.

localhost:3000/static/cyberpunk.png

vercel-node-app.yourusername.verce...

[Shashwat Verma]

I also faced one more problem as I was using templating engines. read the docs, it doesn't perfectly support EJS.

[Andrew Baisden]

Using serverless functions could be a solution vercel.com/docs/serverless-functio...

However you can get it working with normal html files.

1 - Create a folder in the root directory called views and put an index.html file inside of it.

2 - Add the code below to your index.js file

const path = require('path');

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
    res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/views/index.html'));
});

Now you can use html pages for your routes.

[Sudarshan K J]

Thank you so much for this! It works effortlessly. To include the vercel.json file was not known to me earlier

[Chloé Cuny]

Bonjour à tous,
Je suis sous Linux, et j'ai crée un projet node/express que j'aimerais déployer sur Vercel. J'ai suivi toutes vos recommandations mais rien à faire, ça m'affiche uniquement l'architecture de mon projet mais pas le résultat final ...
Quelqu'un aurait une idée?

[Andrew Baisden]

Hé là, je crois que c'est parce que Vercel ne prend pas entièrement en charge Linux lors de l'utilisation de cette méthode. L'utilisation des fonctions sans serveur est une solution possible, mais je ne l'ai pas encore essayée. vercel.com/docs/serverless-functio...

[Krish Nerkar]

how to set the port in vercel for it to know which port to serve the app on

[Andrew Baisden]

Hi I am not sure what you mean I think Vercel assigns a default port that can't be changed. However you can use whatever port you want locally.

[Krish Nerkar]

What port does it assign by default, like what should I set here app.listen(8000, ()=> {
console.log("app started")
})

[Andrew Baisden]

I think it uses port 3000. But regardless if you use the below it should be fine. The code process.env.PORT means that whatever is in the environment variable PORT, on Vercel's end gets assigned as the port number. Otherwise it uses 3000 or whatever port number you put there.

const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;

[Krish Nerkar]

I tried it, but dosent work, just gives me a 404 page on vercel

[Andrew Baisden]

Hmm is your operating system Linux? Linux is not well supported by Vercel when using this method.

[Krish Nerkar]

Nope, I'm using plain windows, but I just can't get the app running on vercel for some reason, it's working perfectly well on localhost and even zeet.co (as you have an option to set a port to listen on) but can't figure out vercel

Do you have some github repo or anything which u can link which successfully deploys an express app to vercel

[Andrew Baisden]

Here Vercel Node App

[Krish Nerkar]

I checked it out and tried to recreate it but with my app, but still no success :(

here's the repo, if you can point out what mistake i am making : github.com/Krish-Nerkar/genzmafia....

[Kal An Zans]

Fantastic! Thank YOU! :^)

[DevByJESUS]

I am on linux , but everything worked fine for me , thanks man

[Saad Abbasi]

not working , getting this error Due tobuildsexisting in your configuration file, the Build and Development Settings defined in your Project Settings will not apply. Learn More: https://vercel.link/unused-build-settings

[Chrome#4181]

yeah, Any solution?

[⚡Priyang⚡]

You have to remove build script from your package.json file

[Md Shahjalal]

Brother have you solved this issue?

[Pranesh Chowdhury]

{
  "version": 2,
  "builds": [
    {
      "src": "./index.js",
      "use": "@vercel/node"
    }
  ],
  "routes": [
    {
      "src": "/(.*)",
      "dest": "./index.js",
      "methods": ["GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE", "PATCH", "OPTIONS"],
      "headers": {
        "Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Try this code in vercel.json.