Create a draft/preview deploy of a built directory with netlify deploy
domain: netlify.com · 9 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Auth: NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN env var or --auth <token>; project must already be linked (see sites:create/link) or targeted explicitly with --site
From the linked project root, run: netlify deploy --dir=dist (replace dist with your build output folder)
Let the CLI build automatically (default behavior) — it runs your configured build command before uploading unless told not to
If the project is already built and you want to skip the build step: netlify deploy --no-build --dir=dist
To target a specific site non-interactively: netlify deploy --site my-project --dir dist --auth "$NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN"
Optionally tag the deploy with an alias subdomain (max 37 chars): netlify deploy --dir dist --alias staging-feature-x
Get machine-readable output for scripting: netlify deploy --dir dist --json
The command prints a unique draft URL you can open/share without it going live on your production domain
Official docs: https://cli.netlify.com/commands/deploy ; https://docs.netlify.com/deploy/create-deploys/
Known gotchas
Without --prod, netlify deploy ALWAYS creates a draft/preview deploy — safe to run repeatedly without affecting the live site
The current CLI reference states deploy auto-runs your build command by default unless --no-build is passed; older docs pages describe manual deploys as skipping the build — the current cli.netlify.com/commands/deploy reference (auto-build unless --no-build) is authoritative
--dir sets the folder actually uploaded; if omitted, the CLI falls back to the publish directory configured in netlify.toml/site settings — mismatches here are a common source of wrong-files-deployed bugs
An anonymous option exists (--allow-anonymous) to deploy without logging in; it creates a claimable temporary site (claim it promptly via the printed link)
--site-name (not --site) is what triggers creating a brand-new site as part of the deploy call if one doesn't exist yet
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