What is Vercel?
Vercel is a hosting platform built by the creators of Next.js. It makes deploying web applications as simple as connecting your GitHub repository.
Deploying Your App
Deployment steps:
- Go to vercel.com and sign up with GitHub
- Click 'Add New Project'
- Select your repository from the list
- Click 'Deploy' — Vercel auto-detects Next.js settings
- Wait for the build to complete (usually under 2 minutes)
Your app is now live! Vercel gives you a URL like your-project.vercel.app that anyone can visit.
Automatic Deployments
Every time you push to GitHub, Vercel automatically rebuilds and deploys your app. This is called continuous deployment.
The workflow:
- Make changes in Cursor
- Commit and push to GitHub
- Vercel detects the push and starts a new build
- Within minutes, your changes are live
What's Next?
Congratulations! You've set up a professional development environment, built a web app, and deployed it to the internet. Here's what to explore next:
Next steps:
- Add more pages to your app
- Experiment with different UI components
- Try the Rapid Prototyping course to turn ideas into demos
- Join our community to share what you're building
You've just joined a new generation of builders. The gap between idea and implementation has never been smaller. Keep building.