Ship Website

End-to-end pipeline: idea → live website on a custom domain. ~5 minutes, zero human input needed.

Pipeline

1. Create GitHub repo

gh repo create LevityLeads/<repo-name> --private --clone
cd <repo-name>

2. Scaffold project

Use Next.js App Router (our standard stack):

npx create-next-app@latest . --typescript --tailwind --eslint --app --src-dir --import-alias "@/*" --use-npm

Or copy from an existing template if the project is similar to something we've built.

3. Initial commit + push

git config user.email "rees.calder@levityleads.com"
git config user.name "Rees Calder"
git add -A && git commit -m "Initial scaffold" && git push -u origin main

4. Create Vercel project

curl -X POST "https://api.vercel.com/v10/projects" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VERCEL_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"<project-name>","framework":"nextjs","gitRepository":{"type":"github","repo":"LevityLeads/<repo-name>"}}'

Vercel auto-deploys on push once linked.

5. Buy domain (Vercel Registrar API)

Check availability:

GET https://api.vercel.com/v1/registrar/domains/<domain>/availability

Check price:

GET https://api.vercel.com/v1/registrar/domains/<domain>/price

Returns {purchasePrice, renewalPrice} in USD.

Purchase:

curl -X POST "https://api.vercel.com/v1/registrar/domains/buy" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VERCEL_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "domains": [{"domainName":"<domain>","autoRenew":true,"years":1,"expectedPrice":<price>}],
    "contactInformation": {
      "firstName":"Rees","lastName":"Calder",
      "email":"rees.calder@levityleads.com",
      "phone":"+27218001234",
      "address1":"Cape Town","city":"Cape Town",
      "state":"Western Cape","zip":"8001","country":"ZA",
      "organization":"Levity Leads"
    }
  }'

Check order status:

GET https://api.vercel.com/v1/registrar/orders/<orderId>

Wait for status: "completed". If refunded, check payment method on Vercel billing.

⚠️ Use real contact info (not placeholders). Fake phone numbers cause refunds.

6. Attach domain to project

# Apex domain
curl -X POST "https://api.vercel.com/v10/projects/<project>/domains" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VERCEL_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"<domain>"}'

# www redirect
curl -X POST "https://api.vercel.com/v10/projects/<project>/domains" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VERCEL_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"www.<domain>","redirect":"<domain>","redirectStatusCode":308}'

DNS records (ALIAS + CAA) configure automatically. SSL provisions via Let's Encrypt.

7. DNS propagation

New domains take 15-30 minutes to propagate. Check via:

curl -s "https://dns.google/resolve?name=<domain>&type=A"

Status 0 = resolved. Status 3 = NXDOMAIN (still propagating).

The .vercel.app subdomain works immediately while DNS propagates.

Post-deploy

• Update cost sheet: Domains tab in 1zC0_Is_H2NmI0H56ATbewXoVMOHWmmtPaUYJt6fTJuI
• Log in daily memory

Credentials

• Vercel token: In TOOLS.md
• GitHub: gh CLI, LevityLeads org
• Git author: Rees Calder <rees.calder@levityleads.com> (MUST match or Vercel rejects deploys)

Domain pricing notes

Vercel is ~$5-15 more per year than discount registrars (Porkbun, Cloudflare) but the API integration and auto-DNS make it worth it. No CAPTCHAs, no browser automation, no extra accounts.