cli: add openui deploy for Vercel

docs/content/docs/api-reference/cli.mdx

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 ---
 title: "@openuidev/cli"
-description: API reference for the OpenUI CLI to scaffold apps, mint Gateway API keys, and generate system prompts or library specs.
+description: API reference for the OpenUI CLI to scaffold apps, mint Gateway API keys, and generate system prompts or library specs, and deploy projects.
 ---
 
-A command-line tool for scaffolding OpenUI chat apps, minting OpenUI Gateway API keys, and generating system prompts, JSON schemas, or serialized library specs from library definitions.
+A command-line tool for scaffolding OpenUI chat apps, minting OpenUI Gateway API key, and generating system prompts, JSON schemas, or serialized library specs from library definitions, and deploying those apps.
 
 ## Installation
 
@@ -212,6 +212,77 @@ npx @openuidev/cli@latest create --name my-app --skill
 npx @openuidev/cli@latest create --name my-app --no-skill
 ```
 
+## `deploy`
+
+Deploys an OpenUI project. The default supported platform is **Vercel**.
+
+```
+openui deploy [dir] [options]
+```
+
+**Arguments**
+
+| Argument | Description                                    |
+| -------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
+| `[dir]`  | Project directory (default: current directory) |
+
+**Options**
+
+| Flag                  | Description                                                                 |
+| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `-y, --yes`           | Skip confirmation prompts (also saves missing env keys to the Vercel project) |
+| `--skip-env`          | Do not pass or save local `.env` / `.env.local` values                      |
+| `--no-interactive`    | Skip prompts (implies `--yes`)                                              |
+| `--verbose`           | Stream full Vercel build logs (hidden by default; failures print a log tail) |
+
+Extra flags after `deploy` are forwarded as-is to the target deployment platform, which validates them. `--skip-env` is OpenUI-specific so it does not collide with the target platform's env specific args.
+
+Unlinked projects are linked to the platform first. Allowlisted keys from `.env` / `.env.local` that are missing on different deployment environments can be saved to the project (auto-accepted with `--yes`). Build logs are quiet by default; use `--verbose` to stream them.
+
+```bash tab="pnpm" tab-group="pkg"
+# Preview deploy from the project directory
+pnpx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy
+
+# Production deploy
+pnpx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy --prod --yes
+
+# Deploy a specific directory without forwarding local env
+pnpx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy ./my-app --skip-env
+```
+
+```bash tab="bun" tab-group="pkg"
+# Preview deploy from the project directory
+bunx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy
+
+# Production deploy
+bunx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy --prod --yes
+
+# Deploy a specific directory without forwarding local env
+bunx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy ./my-app --skip-env
+```
+
+```bash tab="yarn" tab-group="pkg"
+# Preview deploy from the project directory
+yarn dlx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy
+
+# Production deploy
+yarn dlx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy --prod --yes
+
+# Deploy a specific directory without forwarding local env
+yarn dlx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy ./my-app --skip-env
+```
+
+```bash tab="npm" tab-group="pkg"
+# Preview deploy from the project directory
+npx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy
+
+# Production deploy
+npx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy --prod --yes
+
+# Deploy a specific directory without forwarding local env
+npx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy ./my-app --skip-env
+```
+
 ## `generate-api-key`
 
 Signs in with Thesys in the browser, mints an OpenUI Gateway API key, and writes it to a project env file.
@@ -430,7 +501,10 @@ and `detected_agent_name`, inferred best-effort from known product environment m
 value can be spoofed, inherited, missing, or ambiguous, so neither should be treated as an
 authentication or security signal. Every invocation gets an ephemeral, unpersisted `cli_run_id` so
 its events can be correlated. For `create`, analytics also include `package_manager`, the
-immediate-start selection, and best-effort dev-command start and result events. Failure events use
+immediate-start selection, and best-effort dev-command start and result events. For `deploy`, analytics include the target (currently `vercel`), production vs preview, whether
+local env was passed (true/false), CLI resolution source, and process status — not env
+values, project paths, or command output.
+Failure events use
 bounded `failure_stage`, `error_class`, and `error_code` values instead of raw error messages.
 Dependency failures distinguish peer, registry, network, install-script, workspace, and
 package-compatibility errors. Process failures include duration, exit code, and signal; Gateway-auth

docs/content/docs/api-reference/index.mdx

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ The OpenUI SDK is split into packages that build on each other:
 
 - **`@openuidev/devtools`** — Development-only floating widget that surfaces the events captured by `@openuidev/observability`, with error messages and stack traces.
 
-- **`@openuidev/cli`** — Command-line tool for scaffolding new OpenUI chat apps and generating system prompts or JSON schemas from library definitions.
+- **`@openuidev/cli`** — Command-line tool for scaffolding new OpenUI chat apps, generating system prompts or JSON schemas from library definitions, and deploying projects.
 
 ## Choosing a package
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ The OpenUI SDK is split into packages that build on each other:
 | Svelte integration                                                 | [`@openuidev/svelte-lang`](https://github.com/thesysdev/openui/tree/main/packages/svelte-lang)       |
 | Script-tag, CDN, or iframe embeds                                  | [`@openuidev/browser-bundle`](https://github.com/thesysdev/openui/tree/main/packages/browser-bundle) |
 | An in-app panel showing captured errors during development         | [`@openuidev/devtools`](/docs/api-reference/devtools)                                                |
-| App scaffolding and prompt/schema generation from the command line | [`@openuidev/cli`](/docs/api-reference/cli)                                                          |
+| App scaffolding, prompt/schema generation, and deploy from the command line | [`@openuidev/cli`](/docs/api-reference/cli)                                                          |
 
 ## Packages
 
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ The OpenUI SDK is split into packages that build on each other:
     Development-only floating widget surfacing captured events with error messages and stack traces.
   </Card>
   <Card title="@openuidev/cli" href="/docs/api-reference/cli">
-    openui create (scaffold a Next.js app), openui generate-api-key (mint a Gateway key), and openui generate (system prompt + library spec from a library
+    openui create (scaffold a Next.js app), openui generate-api-key (mint a Gateway key), openui deploy, and openui generate (system prompt + library spec from a library
     definition).
   </Card>
 </Cards>

packages/openui-cli/README.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # @openuidev/cli
 
-Command-line tools for starting OpenUI projects, minting OpenUI Cloud API keys, and generating model instructions from component libraries.
+Command-line tools for starting OpenUI projects, minting OpenUI Cloud API keys, and generating model instructions from component libraries, and deploying apps to Vercel.
 
 [![npm](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/@openuidev/cli)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@openuidev/cli)
 [![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-blue.svg)](https://github.com/thesysdev/openui/blob/main/LICENSE)
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ It currently supports:
 - keeping the default minimal SDK route or adding a LangGraph, Vercel AI SDK, or Vercel Eve backend to either template
 - minting an OpenUI Cloud API key into an existing project's env file
 - generating a system prompt or JSON Schema from a `createLibrary()` export
+- deploying a project with `openui deploy`
 
 ## Install
 
@@ -71,6 +72,13 @@ Generate JSON Schema instead:
 npx @openuidev/cli@latest generate ./src/library.ts --json-schema
 ```
 
+Deploy the current project:
+
+```bash
+npx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy
+npx @openuidev/cli@latest deploy --prod
+```
+
 ## Commands
 
 ### `openui create`
@@ -172,6 +180,37 @@ openui create --name my-app --no-skill --no-install
 openui create --no-interactive --name my-app --template openui-cloud --api-key tk_your_key
 ```
 
+### `openui deploy`
+
+Deploys an OpenUI project. The default platform supported is **Vercel**.
+
+```bash
+openui deploy [dir] [options]
+```
+
+Arguments:
+
+- `dir`: Project directory (default: current directory)
+
+Options:
+
+- `-y, --yes`: Skip confirmation prompts (also saves missing env keys to the Vercel project)
+- `--skip-env`: Do not pass or save local `.env` / `.env.local` values
+- `--no-interactive`: Skip prompts (implies `--yes`)
+- `--verbose`: Stream full Vercel build logs (hidden by default; failure still prints a log tail)
+
+Extra flags after `deploy` are forwarded as-is to the target deployment platform, which validates them. `--skip-env` is OpenUI-specific so it does not collide with the target platform's env specific args.
+
+Unlinked projects are linked to the platform first. Allowlisted keys from `.env` / `.env.local` that are missing on different deployment environments can be saved to the project (auto-accepted with `--yes`). Build logs are quiet by default; use `--verbose` to stream them.
+
+
+```bash
+openui deploy
+openui deploy ./my-app
+openui deploy ./my-app --prod
+openui deploy --skip-env -- --force
+```
+
 ### `openui generate-api-key`
 
 Signs in with Thesys in the browser, mints an OpenUI Cloud API key, and writes it to a project env file.
@@ -270,6 +309,7 @@ Run the built CLI:
 ```bash
 node dist/index.js --help
 node dist/index.js create --help
+node dist/index.js deploy --help
 node dist/index.js generate-api-key --help
 node dist/index.js generate --help
 ```
@@ -280,7 +320,7 @@ The CLI sends usage analytics; OAuth sign-ins may link usage to your OIDC accoun
 
 When a coding agent invokes the CLI, it should pass `--agent-name` using its stable, lowercase kebab-case product slug—for example, `codex`, `claude-code`, `cline`, `factory-droid`, or `pi`. Do not pass a model/version, user name, session ID, or other unique value. Humans can omit the flag; it defaults to `unknown`.
 
-Telemetry includes both `agent_name` (the CLI declaration) and `detected_agent_name` (best-effort environment detection). Either can be spoofed, inherited, missing, or ambiguous; neither is an authentication signal. Every invocation gets an ephemeral, unpersisted `cli_run_id` so its events can be correlated. Failure events include bounded `failure_stage`, `error_class`, and `error_code` values, never raw error messages. Dependency failures distinguish peer, registry, network, install-script, workspace, and package-compatibility errors. Process failures include duration, exit code, and signal; Cloud-auth failures include a bounded auth substage and HTTP status when known; cancellations use separate events. For `create`, telemetry also includes `package_manager`, the immediate-start selection, and best-effort dev-command start and result events. Dev-command events contain status, duration, exit code, and signal—not project paths, command output, code, or environment values. Disable telemetry with `--no-telemetry` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1`.
+Telemetry includes both `agent_name` (the CLI declaration) and `detected_agent_name` (best-effort environment detection). Either can be spoofed, inherited, missing, or ambiguous; neither is an authentication signal. Every invocation gets an ephemeral, unpersisted `cli_run_id` so its events can be correlated. Failure events include bounded `failure_stage`, `error_class`, and `error_code` values, never raw error messages. Dependency failures distinguish peer, registry, network, install-script, workspace, and package-compatibility errors. Process failures include duration, exit code, and signal; Cloud-auth failures include a bounded auth substage and HTTP status when known; cancellations use separate events. For `create`, telemetry also includes `package_manager`, the immediate-start selection, and best-effort dev-command start and result events. Dev-command events contain status, duration, exit code, and signal—not project paths, command output, code, or environment values. For `deploy`, telemetry includes the target (currently `vercel`), production vs preview, whether the Vercel CLI was logged in, whether local env was passed, CLI resolution source, and process status; not env values, project paths, or command output. Disable telemetry with `--no-telemetry` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1`.
 
 ```bash
 openui create --no-telemetry
@@ -291,6 +331,7 @@ openui create --no-telemetry
 - interactive prompts can be cancelled without creating output
 - `create` fetches `templates/templates.json` and the selected template from GitHub (`thesysdev/openui@main`)
 - `generate` exits with a non-zero code if the file is missing or no valid library export is found
+- `deploy` exits with a non-zero code if the directory has no `package.json` or the Vercel CLI fails
 
 ## Documentation
 

packages/openui-cli/package.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "@openuidev/cli",
-  "version": "0.2.13",
-  "description": "CLI for OpenUI — scaffold generative UI chat apps, mint Cloud API keys, and generate LLM system prompts from component libraries",
+  "version": "0.3.0",
+  "description": "CLI for OpenUI — scaffold generative UI chat apps, mint Gateway API keys, and generate LLM system prompts from component libraries, and deploy projects",
   "bin": {
     "openui": "dist/index.js"
   },
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
     "@inquirer/prompts": "^8.3.0",
     "commander": "^14.0.3",
     "cross-spawn": "^7.0.6",
+    "dotenv": "^17.2.2",
     "esbuild": "^0.25.10",
     "get-port": "^7.2.0",
     "open": "^10.1.0",

packages/openui-cli/src/commands/create-app.ts

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import {
   type OverlayManifest,
   type TemplateOverlay,
 } from "../lib/overlays";
-import { runCommand } from "../lib/process-runner";
+import { mutedNpmEnv, runCommand } from "../lib/process-runner";
 import { resolveArgs } from "../lib/resolve-args";
 import { resolveTemplateSource } from "../lib/scaffold-template";
 import { withSpinner } from "../lib/spinner";
@@ -393,11 +393,7 @@ export async function runCreateApp(options: CreateAppOptions): Promise<void> {
             echo: false,
             stdin: "ignore",
             captureLimit: QUIET_COMMAND_CAPTURE_LIMIT,
-            env: {
-              ...process.env,
-              npm_config_loglevel: "error",
-              NPM_CONFIG_LOGLEVEL: "error",
-            },
+            env: mutedNpmEnv(),
           });
 
     if (options.verbose) {

packages/openui-cli/src/commands/deploy.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+import * as fs from "node:fs";
+import * as path from "node:path";
+
+import {
+  assertOpenUiProject,
+  DEFAULT_DEPLOY_TARGET,
+  type DeployTargetOptions,
+} from "../lib/deploy";
+import { deployToTarget } from "../lib/deploy-targets";
+import { resolveInstallPackageManager } from "../lib/detect-package-manager";
+import { CreateError, telemetry } from "../lib/telemetry";
+
+/** OpenUI-only flags. Everything else is forwarded for the target CLI to validate. */
+const OWN_FLAGS = new Set(["--skip-env", "--no-interactive", "--verbose"]);
+
+export type DeployOptions = {
+  dir?: string;
+  yes?: boolean;
+  skipEnv?: boolean;
+  noInteractive?: boolean;
+  verbose?: boolean;
+  extraArgs?: string[];
+};
+
+type ResolvedDeploy = {
+  projectDir?: string;
+  extraArgs: string[];
+};
+
+/** Resolve flags, validate the project dir, then hand off to the deploy target. */
+export async function runDeploy(options: DeployOptions): Promise<void> {
+  const resolved = resolveDeployInvocation(options);
+  const projectDir = resolveProjectDir(resolved.projectDir);
+  const extraArgs = resolved.extraArgs.filter((arg) => arg !== "--verbose");
+  const prod = extraArgs.includes("--prod");
+  const yes =
+    Boolean(options.yes) ||
+    Boolean(options.noInteractive) ||
+    extraArgs.includes("--yes") ||
+    extraArgs.includes("-y");
+  const skipEnv = Boolean(options.skipEnv);
+  const verbose = Boolean(options.verbose) || (options.extraArgs ?? []).includes("--verbose");
+
+  const targetOpts: DeployTargetOptions = {
+    projectDir,
+    extraArgs,
+    prod,
+    yes,
+    skipEnv,
+    noInteractive: Boolean(options.noInteractive),
+    verbose,
+  };
+
+  telemetry.register({ package_manager: resolveInstallPackageManager().name });
+  telemetry.capture("cli_deploy_started", {
+    target: DEFAULT_DEPLOY_TARGET,
+    prod,
+    yes,
+    skip_env: skipEnv,
+    verbose,
+    has_dir_arg: Boolean(resolved.projectDir),
+  });
+
+  await deployToTarget(DEFAULT_DEPLOY_TARGET, targetOpts);
+}
+
+/** Split `[dir]` from extra args when Commander treats a flag as the dir. */
+function resolveDeployInvocation(options: DeployOptions): ResolvedDeploy {
+  const projectDir = unsetIfFlag(options.dir);
+  const extraArgs = extraDeployArgs(options.extraArgs ?? [], { dir: projectDir });
+  if (options.dir?.startsWith("-") && !extraArgs.includes(options.dir)) {
+    extraArgs.unshift(options.dir);
+  }
+  return { projectDir, extraArgs };
+}
+
+/** Drop OpenUI-owned flags and the consumed dir so the rest can go to Vercel. */
+function extraDeployArgs(args: string[], consumed: { dir?: string }): string[] {
+  const skip = new Set(
+    [consumed.dir].filter((value): value is string => Boolean(value && !value.startsWith("-"))),
+  );
+  const out: string[] = [];
+  for (const arg of args) {
+    if (skip.has(arg) || OWN_FLAGS.has(arg)) continue;
+    out.push(arg);
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+/** Treat a leading-dash value as a flag, not a project directory. */
+function unsetIfFlag(value?: string): string | undefined {
+  return value?.startsWith("-") ? undefined : value;
+}
+
+/** Resolve and require a directory that contains package.json. */
+function resolveProjectDir(dir?: string): string {
+  const projectDir = path.resolve(process.cwd(), dir ?? ".");
+  if (!fs.existsSync(projectDir)) {
+    throw new CreateError(
+      "args_resolution",
+      `Directory not found: ${projectDir}`,
+      "invalid_input",
+      "NOT_FOUND",
+    );
+  }
+  if (!fs.statSync(projectDir).isDirectory()) {
+    throw new CreateError(
+      "args_resolution",
+      `Not a directory: ${projectDir}`,
+      "invalid_input",
+      "NOT_A_DIRECTORY",
+    );
+  }
+  if (!fs.existsSync(path.join(projectDir, "package.json"))) {
+    throw new CreateError(
+      "args_resolution",
+      `No package.json in ${projectDir}. Run this from an OpenUI project, or pass its directory.`,
+      "invalid_input",
+      "PROJECT_NOT_FOUND",
+    );
+  }
+  assertOpenUiProject(projectDir);
+  return projectDir;
+}