Take a site from your project to a live URL — and connect your own domain — in a few minutes.

Machine can deploy a website straight from your project: it builds your source, ships it to a global edge, and gives you a live URL. This guide walks the whole path, including connecting a custom domain.

For the underlying model, see Apps; for every field, see the Manifest reference.

Deploy your first app

Declare the app

Add an [[apps]] entry to your project's machine.toml. At minimum, point it at the source and tell it how to build:

[[apps]]
slug = "marketing"
name = "Marketing site"

  [apps.source]
  type      = "git"        # deploy from this project's repo
  branch    = "main"
  root_path = "apps/site"  # the folder to build, if not the repo root

  [apps.build]
  command = "pnpm build"
  out_dir = "dist"

Prefer the dashboard? The Apps tab has a form that writes the same entry and commits it for you.

Deploy

Save the manifest. Machine's reconcile loop notices the new entry and deploys it automatically — or hit Deploy in the Apps tab to ship immediately.

Watch the status move through building → deploying → active. If a build fails, the card shows the error and a link to the logs.

Open your live URL

Once the deploy is active, the card shows a stable Vercel URL — your-app-yourteam.vercel.app. Click it; your site is live. Share it as-is, or connect your own domain next.

Connect a custom domain

Add the domain

List the domains you own under domains (or add them in the Apps tab):

[[apps]]
slug    = "marketing"
domains = ["example.com", "www.example.com"]

Machine attaches each domain to the deployment on the next deploy.

Add the DNS records

Until DNS points at the provider, the app's card shows a DNS records panel with the exact records to add — read live from the provider:

Type	Name	Value
`A`	`@`	the provider's IP addresses
`CNAME`	`www`	the provider's CNAME target
`TXT`	…	an ownership record, when required

Add these at your DNS provider (the registrar or DNS host for the domain):

Apex domains like example.com → the A records.
Subdomains like www.example.com or docs.example.com → the CNAME.

Use the copy button next to each value so you paste it exactly.

Wait for it to verify

DNS changes can take anywhere from a minute to a few hours to propagate. Machine re-checks automatically; once the records resolve, the domain verifies and starts serving your site — no redeploy needed. The DNS panel disappears when the domain is live.

"Invalid configuration" / domain not serving? That almost always means the DNS records haven't propagated yet, or they don't exactly match the panel. Double-check the Type, Name, and Value against what's shown, remove any conflicting old A/CNAME records for the same name, and give it time.

Redeploy and roll forward

Apps redeploy automatically whenever their manifest entry changes — a new commit to the branch, an edit to the build command, a new env var. To redeploy without changing anything, use Redeploy on the card. The current version keeps serving until the new build is ready.

Multiple apps

A project can declare as many [[apps]] entries as you need — a marketing site, a docs site, and a dashboard side by side, each with its own source, build, domains, and environment. They appear together in the Apps tab.

Related: Apps concept · Manifest reference · Managing secrets for values your build needs.

Deploying a website