From GitHub to Vercel: How to Deploy AI-Generated Code to Production

You generated your website with FORGE. Reviewed the code. It looks good.

Now what?

You're probably thinking: How do I get this live?

Here's the good news: it's fast. Really fast. If you follow this guide, your site will be live and deployed to production in under 5 minutes.

And more importantly, you'll own the entire process. Your code, your repository, your deployment. No black boxes.

You Built Your Site. Now What?

When you generate a site with FORGE, you get production-ready Next.js code. That code runs on Vercel, Netlify, or anywhere else that supports Node.js apps.

The workflow is simple:

1. Push your code to GitHub — Your code lives in version control
2. Connect GitHub to Vercel — Vercel watches your repo
3. Deploy — Push to main, Vercel automatically deploys
4. Add your domain — Point your custom domain to the live site
5. Done — Your site is live and under your control

This process takes 5 minutes. Let's walk through it.

Prerequisites: What You Need

Good news: you probably already have everything.

• A FORGE account (where you generated your site)
• GitHub account (free at github.com)
• Vercel account (free at vercel.com)
• Your domain name (optional, but you'll want one)

That's it. No credit card required for either GitHub or Vercel's free tier. No complicated setup.

Step 1: Push Your Code to GitHub

What's happening here: GitHub stores your code in version control. It's a backup, a collaboration tool, and a history of every change you make. It's also the connection point between your code and Vercel.

FORGE's One-Click Method (Easiest)

If FORGE has a "Push to GitHub" button, use it. One click and your generated site is pushed to your new GitHub repo. FORGE handles the git init, git add, and git push for you.

Manual Method (If You Want to Learn Git)

If you're doing this manually or want to understand what's happening:

# Navigate to your project folder
cd my-forge-site

# Initialize git (first time only)
git init

# Add all files to staging
git add .

# Create your first commit
git commit -m "Initial FORGE site generation"

# Create a new repo on GitHub
# Then connect your local repo to GitHub
git remote add origin https://github.com/your-username/my-forge-site.git

# Push to GitHub
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

(If you've never used git, GitHub has a helpful tutorial. And don't worry—you can't break anything by learning.)

Verification: Go to github.com/your-username/my-forge-site. You should see all your files there. Click around. This is your code. Yours to keep, modify, and deploy.

Pro tip: Look at the .gitignore file in your FORGE site. It already excludes node_modules and other files that don't need version control. FORGE handles this for you.

Step 2: Connect Vercel to Your GitHub Repo

Why Vercel: Free tier, built for Next.js, automatic deployments every time you push code, global CDN so your site is fast everywhere.

(Netlify and Railway are also good alternatives if you prefer, but Vercel is built for Next.js and is the easiest choice.)

The Process:

1. Go to vercel.com and sign in (or create a free account)
2. Click "New Project"
3. Select "Import Git Repository"
4. Connect your GitHub account — Vercel asks for permission to see your repos
5. Select your FORGE site repo (my-forge-site)
6. Click "Import" — Vercel automatically detects it's a Next.js project
7. Click "Deploy" — Vercel builds and deploys your site (takes 2-5 minutes)

That's it.

What Happens Behind the Scenes:

Vercel reads your Next.js code, installs dependencies, builds the production version, and deploys it to their global CDN. Your site is now live at a Vercel URL (something like my-forge-site.vercel.app).

Verification: Vercel shows you a "Deployment Complete" screen. Click the link. Your site is live.

Pro Tip: Preview Deployments

Every time you push to a branch other than main, Vercel creates a preview deployment. You can test changes before merging to main. This is powerful for:

• Testing changes locally, pushing to a branch, sharing a live preview with collaborators
• Catching bugs before they go to production
• A/B testing changes

Step 3: Add Your Custom Domain

Right now, your site lives at my-forge-site.vercel.app. That's fine for testing, but you want your own domain.

The Process:

1. In Vercel, go to your project settings
2. Click "Domains"
3. Add your custom domain (example.com)
4. Vercel gives you nameserver instructions
5. Log into your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.)
6. Update nameservers to point to Vercel
7. Wait 5-15 minutes for DNS to propagate
8. Done — Your site is live at example.com

SSL/HTTPS: Vercel handles this automatically. Your site is secure.

Pro tip: If you're moving a domain from another provider, Vercel has specific instructions for common registrars. The nameserver update is usually one or two clicks.

Testing DNS:

Once you've updated nameservers, you can check if it's working:

nslookup example.com

You should see Vercel's nameservers. If not, DNS hasn't propagated yet. Give it a few more minutes.

Alternative Deployment Targets

Vercel is the easiest for Next.js, but you have other options.

Netlify

Similar to Vercel. Also free. Also supports Next.js. Slightly different UI, same result. Many people prefer Netlify's UX.

Railway

A bit more technical. Better for full-stack apps (if you add a backend later). Good learning path if you want to understand deployment infrastructure.

Self-Hosted (AWS, DigitalOcean, Linode)

Maximum control. You manage the servers. More work, more cost, but you're in charge. Good if you want to integrate with other infrastructure.

The Key Insight:

Your FORGE-generated code works on all of these platforms. You're not locked into Vercel. You can deploy anywhere, anytime. That's code ownership in action.

You Own It Now. What's Next?

Your site is live. It's yours. You can:

Customize the code — Clone the repo locally, make changes, push to GitHub, Vercel auto-deploys.

Add features — Your developer can integrate APIs, add database queries, build custom functionality. It's Next.js, so anything is possible.

Scale — Vercel handles traffic automatically. No server management.

Developer handoff — Give someone access to your GitHub repo and they can pick up development. No platform knowledge required.

Migrate later — Want to move to a different hosting provider? Just redeploy your code. No extraction, no rebuilding.

This is what code ownership means: the power to build on your foundation.

Next Steps:

1. Celebrate — Your site is live and under your control. That's a win.
2. Share it — Send the link to your team, customers, investors.
3. Customize — Think about what you want to change. Add a feature. Tweak the design.
4. Learn — Explore your Next.js code. Understand how it works. It's readable.

Generate your next site and deploy today. Each time gets faster.

Create your next site →

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Your code, your server, your business. Deploy with FORGE. Start free today.