Vercel Monitor Skill

Monitor and interact with Vercel deployments, build logs, and environment details using the Vercel CLI.

When to Use

•After pushing code to check deployment status
•Debugging CI/CD build failures
•Waiting for preview deployments to complete
•Inspecting build logs and errors
•Verifying deployment configuration

Prerequisites

Ensure Vercel CLI is installed and authenticated:

bash

# Check if installed
which vercel

# Install if needed
pnpm add -g vercel

# Login if needed
vercel login

Core Commands

List Recent Deployments

Find the most recent preview builds:

bash

vercel ls --status BUILDING,ERROR,READY --environment preview

Output example:

code

  Age     Deployment                                                           Status      Environment     Duration     Username
  2h      https://apartmentdibs-mock-01-55pbsys1k-apartmentdibs.vercel.app     ● Ready     Preview         1m           brianmjohnson
  2h      https://apartmentdibs-mock-01-cesjjw73c-apartmentdibs.vercel.app     ● Error     Preview         51s          brianmjohnson

Filter options:

•--status BUILDING - Only show in-progress builds
•--status ERROR - Only show failed builds
•--status READY - Only show successful builds
•--status BUILDING,ERROR,READY - Show all statuses
•--environment preview - Preview deployments only
•--environment production - Production deployments only

Wait for Build to Complete

Wait up to 10 minutes for a deployment to finish:

bash

vercel inspect <url|deploymentId> --wait --timeout 600s

Example:

bash

vercel inspect https://apartmentdibs-mock-01-55pbsys1k-apartmentdibs.vercel.app --wait --timeout 600s

Use this to:

•Wait for a deployment after git push
•Block until build completes before running tests
•Get immediate feedback on build status

View Build Logs

Get detailed build logs for debugging:

bash

vercel inspect <url|deploymentId> --logs

Example:

bash

vercel inspect https://apartmentdibs-mock-01-cesjjw73c-apartmentdibs.vercel.app --logs

Look for:

•TypeScript errors
•Build failures
•Missing environment variables
•Dependency issues

Inspect Deployment Details

Get comprehensive deployment information:

bash

vercel inspect <url>

Example output:

code

> Fetched deployment "apartmentdibs-mock-01-55pbsys1k-apartmentdibs.vercel.app" [295ms]

  General

    id          dpl_Haksnq9pV9JsxWHu8MuVXB8NKALN
    name        apartmentdibs-mock-01
    target      preview
    status      ● Ready
    url         https://apartmentdibs-mock-01-55pbsys1k-apartmentdibs.vercel.app
    created     Tue Nov 18 2025 18:34:23 GMT-0800 [2h ago]

  Aliases

    ╶ https://apartmentdibs-mock-01-git-claude-build-web-1ecfd4-apartmentdibs.vercel.app

  Builds

    ┌ .        [0ms]
    ├── λ admin/support/[ticketId] (939.95KB) [iad1]
    ├── λ admin/users/[userId] (939.95KB) [iad1]
    └── 757 output items hidden

Pull Environment Variables

Get environment variables from Vercel:

bash

vercel env pull --environment=preview

This downloads .env.local with all preview environment variables.

List Environment Variables

View configured environment variables:

bash

vercel env ls

Common Workflows

Monitor After Push

After pushing code, monitor the deployment:

bash

# 1. List recent deployments to find yours
vercel ls --status BUILDING,ERROR,READY --environment preview

# 2. Wait for it to complete (grab URL from step 1)
vercel inspect <deployment-url> --wait --timeout 600s

# 3. If failed, check logs
vercel inspect <deployment-url> --logs

Debug Failed Build

When a build fails:

bash

# 1. Find the failed deployment
vercel ls --status ERROR --environment preview

# 2. Get detailed logs
vercel inspect <failed-url> --logs

# 3. Look for specific errors
vercel inspect <failed-url> --logs | grep -i error

# 4. Get full details
vercel inspect <failed-url>

Verify Before Merge

Before merging a PR, verify the preview deployment:

bash

# 1. Check deployment status
vercel ls --environment preview

# 2. Get preview URL
vercel inspect <deployment-url>

# 3. Aliases section shows the branch preview URL
# Test at that URL before merging

Wait and Validate Workflow

Complete workflow for CI/CD monitoring:

bash

# After git push...

# Wait for deployment
URL=$(vercel ls --environment preview | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')
vercel inspect $URL --wait --timeout 600s

# Check if successful
STATUS=$(vercel inspect $URL 2>&1 | grep "status" | awk '{print $2}')
if [ "$STATUS" = "Ready" ]; then
    echo "Deployment successful!"
    vercel inspect $URL
else
    echo "Deployment failed!"
    vercel inspect $URL --logs
fi

Error Patterns to Look For

TypeScript Errors

bash

vercel inspect <url> --logs | grep "error TS"

Missing Environment Variables

bash

vercel inspect <url> --logs | grep -i "env\|environment\|undefined"

Build Failures

bash

vercel inspect <url> --logs | grep -i "error\|failed\|exit code"

Dependency Issues

bash

vercel inspect <url> --logs | grep -i "npm\|pnpm\|yarn\|module\|package"

Reproducing CI/CD Issues Locally

If the Vercel build fails but local builds succeed:

bash

# Run the exact same build command Vercel uses
vercel build

# This runs:
# - zenstack generate
# - prisma generate
# - next build
# - prisma migrate deploy

Quick Reference

Command	Description
`vercel ls --environment preview`	List preview deployments
`vercel ls --status ERROR`	List failed deployments
`vercel inspect <url>`	Get deployment details
`vercel inspect <url> --logs`	View build logs
`vercel inspect <url> --wait`	Wait for completion
`vercel env pull`	Download env variables
`vercel env ls`	List env variables
`vercel build`	Run build locally

Important Notes

•Always use --environment preview for feature branch deployments
•Build logs are essential for debugging failures
•--wait timeout is in seconds (600s = 10 minutes)
•Use vercel build locally to reproduce CI/CD issues
•Preview URLs follow pattern: project-git-branch-team.vercel.app