Continuous Deployment
Continuous Deployment
Continuous deployment works by connecting a GitHub repository to a Netlify site and keeping the two in sync.
It works for plain static sites, but it’s even more powerful when you’re using a static site generator or a front end build tool like Grunt, Gulp or Broccoli.
Netlify will run your build command and deploy the result whenever you push to GitHub.
- No deploying without committing and pushing first
- Easy collaboration through pull requests
- Fix a typo through GitHub’s web UI from your mobile
- Let non-technical users contribute by using prose.io
Build Environments
Netlify allows you to add build environment variables to your build so you can define the way your site is built. In addition to the variables you choose to define, Netlify has a number of pre-defined variables built in. Those variables are:
URL REPOSITORY_URL BRANCH PULL_REQUEST
If your build is triggered from one of your inbound webhooks, Netlify also has two webhook-specific variables:
WEBHOOK_URL WEBHOOK_BODY
Dependencies
Netlify will install any dependencies from any Gemfile, package.json, bower.json or requirements.txt in the root of your repository, before running your build. Any executables from these dependencies will be made available from the PATH.
Make sure to include your build tool in these dependencies:
- If you’re using Jekyll, make sure to add a Gemfile that requires the jekyll gem
- If you’re using Grunt, make sure to add a package.json with grunt-cli as a dependency
- If you’re using Roots, make sure to install roots in your local package.json and not just globally
- If you’re using mkdocs, make sure to add a requirements.txt with mkdocs>=0.9.0
Dependency Cache
The first build you do can take some time while we install all of your dependencies. After the initial build, we’ll cache the dependencies so we don’t have to start from scratch each time you push an update. This means subsequent builds will be really fast.
Examples
Here are some examples of configuring your site for common build tools:
| Build Tool | Directory | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Jekyll | _site | jekyll build |
| Grunt | dist | grunt build |
| Gulp | dist | gulp |
| Middleman | build | middleman build |
| Roots | public | roots compile |
| Hugo | public | hugo |
| Brunch | public | brunch build |
| Cactus | .build | cactus build |
| Docpad | out | docpad generate |
| Ember | dist | ember build |
| Gatsby | public | gatsby build |
| Gitbook | _book | gitbook build |
| Hexo | public | hexo generate |
| Metalsmith | build | metalsmith |
| MkDocs | site | mkdocs build |
| Nanoc | output | nanoc |
| Pelican | output | pelican content |
| Wintersmith | build | wintersmith build |
For Jekyll hosting, make sure you have a Gemfile and a Gemfile.lock checked into your repository, specifying the Jekyll version you want to use.
For Roots hosting, make sure you add roots to your package.json.
For Hugo hosting, hugo will build and deploy with the latest version of hugo. You can specify a specific hugo release like this: hugo_0.15. Currently 0.13, 0.14 and 0.15 are supported.