Deploy to Netlify

Deploy Avocado Studio site and Content Studio to Netlify.

Architecture overview

Component	Netlify product	Notes
Site (apps/site)	Netlify Sites	Next.js via @netlify/plugin-nextjs
Content Studio (apps/editor)	Netlify Sites	Static Vite build
Orchestrator (apps/orchestrator)	External host	Long-running Fastify server — deploy on Render, Fly, Railway, or any container host

The orchestrator is a long-running stateful server and cannot run as a Netlify Function. Deploy it on a platform that supports persistent processes.

Phase 1: Public site only (recommended start)

Deploy apps/site as a standalone Next.js site serving published content.

Netlify project setup

1. Connect your repository to Netlify
2. Configure build settings:
   • Base directory: apps/site
   • Build command: cd ../.. && pnpm install --frozen-lockfile && pnpm --filter @ai-site-editor/site build
   • Publish directory: apps/site/.next
3. Install the Next.js plugin: add @netlify/plugin-nextjs via the Netlify UI or netlify.toml

netlify.toml (in repo root)

[build]
  base = "apps/site"
  command = "cd ../.. && pnpm install --frozen-lockfile && pnpm --filter @ai-site-editor/site build"
  publish = ".next"

[[plugins]]
  package = "@netlify/plugin-nextjs"

Environment variables (Phase 1)

Variable	Value	Required
NODE_VERSION	22	Yes
ORCHESTRATOR_URL	(leave unset)	No

In Phase 1, the site renders from published content only — no orchestrator needed.

Phase 2: Full editing stack

Deploy the Content Studio

Create a separate Netlify site for apps/editor:

• Base directory: apps/editor
• Build command: cd ../.. && pnpm install --frozen-lockfile && pnpm --filter @ai-site-editor/editor build
• Publish directory: apps/editor/dist

Content Studio environment variables

Variable	Value
VITE_SITE_ORIGIN	https://<your-site>.netlify.app (no trailing slash)
VITE_ORCHESTRATOR_URL	https://<your-orchestrator-host>
VITE_SITE_DRAFT_SECRET	Shared secret (must match site’s DRAFT_MODE_SECRET)

Deploy the orchestrator (external host)

The orchestrator requires a long-running process. Deploy on Render, Fly.io, Railway, or any container platform. See the Vercel deployment guide for Render-specific instructions.

Site environment variables (Phase 2)

Variable	Value
ORCHESTRATOR_URL	https://<your-orchestrator-host>
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_EDITOR	1
NEXT_PUBLIC_EDITOR_ORIGIN	https://<your-editor>.netlify.app (no trailing slash)
DRAFT_MODE_SECRET	Shared secret (must match Content Studio’s VITE_SITE_DRAFT_SECRET)

Other platforms

Deployment guides for the following platforms are planned:

• AWS Amplify — Next.js hosting + Lambda for orchestrator
• Google Cloud Run — Container-based deployment for all three services
• Docker Compose — Self-hosted deployment on any server

Contributions welcome! See the contributing guide.

Troubleshooting

See the production troubleshooting section — the same postMessage, CORS, and draft mode issues apply regardless of hosting platform.